


Leblanc Royale�

by Nhitori



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Multi, No Smut, Slow Burn, non-consensual incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2018-10-25 03:08:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10755486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nhitori/pseuds/Nhitori
Summary: A visit to the fortune-teller Chihaya reveals the future of the Phantom Thieves, and the ruin which awaits if they change Okumura's heart as they've been baited to do.  Though avoiding disaster and death, this means that Haru will be sold off and be forced to live with her fiance.  She agrees to the plan, however, for the sake of her father's life.  This is the story of a Missed Deadline.�(Note: This starts off focusing on Haru, but goes on to dive into the problems all the other Phantom Thieves face as well.  Yes, even thetemporarymember...)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!! I actually haven't beat the game yet (Stopped before the final palace) but this work has spoilers up to that palace since it references some events following the Okumura palace, and also for each social link as I'm defaulting Protag (AKA Akira) to max confidant with anyone who appears in the story. I just had to seize upon the opportunity of Okumura Deadline Angst... 
> 
> Also, comments are much appreciated! Even just one word in a comment, if you'd like me to continue, will help me to do so!

“Hey, everyone, there’s something that I picked up on,” Futaba spoke up during the palace strategy meeting as soon as there was a gap in which she could bring it up, “I know you’re all excited to infiltrate today, but… It looks like the same person who made that Medjed threat against you _may_ have tampered with the Phan-site, too. Just about a week ago, after I shut down the threat, uhh,” She pushed her glasses up, then closed her eyes, “Not like Okumura doesn’t need a change of heart, but we might wanna tread carefully.”

“Ehh?” Ann leaned towards her, “The site got hacked? Well, what did they do? Could they have figured out who we are from something like that?”

“Obviously not!” Futaba groaned, then opened her eyes again but kept them narrowed in thought, “If anything, maybe they’d think that Mishima kid was a Phantom Thief…” She looked away, biting the inside of her cheek, “Actually, it seems like what they did was rig the rankings. I mean, you saw how much they were fluctuating before…”

“Oh yeah, and do you really think teenagers would be able to agree on the CEO of a food company long enough to keep him on top?” Ryuji added in, scratching the back of his neck, “Did think it was kinda weird, when all the other rankings seemed more relevant to our age group, yeah? I heard on the news that’s the biggest demographic liking the phantom thieves.”

“Hmm…” Haru sighed, putting a hand to her cheek, “But why would they do that…? And anyway, it was only Mona who went to my father’s palace because of that poll…”

“It is true that our actual infiltration is for Haru’s sake, not because of the website,” Makoto nodded, then leaned over to look at the screen of Futaba’s phone, “Could the hacker have been a corporate rival of Okumura foods, then?”

“Didn’t I _just_ say that this is obviously the same code that the Medjed threat used? It’s got nothing to do with Okumura foods and everything to do with the Phantom Thieves. That’s why I said we should be careful… Our enemy wants us to do this,” Futaba shook her head, then returned her phone to her pocket, “At least, that’s the only explanation I can think of.”

“I understand,” Haru nodded, moving her hand from her cheek to her chest, “I guess… it would be a little selfish of me to insist we go through with this if there’s a possibility of it causing more trouble for you.”

“That’s not what I was trying to imply!” Futaba insisted, shaking her head, “I just… think we should be careful. I wouldn’t do something like say we should give up on you! I know these guys wouldn’t have given up on me, even if things got scary.”

“I won’t hold it against you if you need to…” Haru shook her head, looking down at the table, “Besides, maybe it would be for the best if I just accepted my fate…”

Fate… When Haru said that, Akira adjusted his glasses, then spoke, “I’ll find out.”

“You’ll… find out?” Yusuke questioned, holding a hand to his forehead, “Find out what, exactly? The nature of the threat against us? This does seem to be more in Futaba’s realm…”

“Thanks for the support, Inari, but I’m sure that Akira has something in mind,” She turned to look at him and smirked, “So, what are you planning this time, Joker?”

“I know somebody,” His response was simple as ever, and he stood up. The others looked to him, then Ann started laughing.

“Seriously, you know somebody for everything! It’s like everyone you befriend has something useful for the Phantom Thieves. Kinda makes me wonder how you find these people!” Ann chuckled, twirling the end of her pigtail.

“Same way all us persona-users ended up meeting, I guess,” Ryuji shrugged, crossed his legs, “Happy coincidence?”

“It’s fate,” Akira shrugged, and Morgana just chuckled.

“Oh, so _that’s_ who you’re going to talk to!” Morgana sounded playful as he hopped up onto Akira’s shoulder, “I’m with this guy most of the time when he’s out making friends, and I have to agree with Ryuji that it’s coincidence that everyone has some useful skills for the phantom thieves… But I guess if we’re going to see _her_ then I should get into Joker’s mindset!”

“Her?” Yusuke questioned, furrowing his brow, “Does this person know we are the phantom thieves? I worry of the implications should somebody outside our group know the secret…”

“Loads of people know that this guy is a phantom thief, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. They all figured it out on their own,” Morgana explained, tail swishing, “And they don’t know about any of you, just him, and they all promised to keep it a secret. After all, getting to know this guy enough to figure out he’s a phantom thief means caring about him enough to wanna protect him!”

“I see…” Yusuke nodded, “Well, I suppose that’s fine, if you’re sure of it. In any case, I’m sure there are others who know of individual involvement… If it stands that any others among us have friends outside of this group.”

“I’m pretty sure that Shiho knows,” Ann shrugged, looking away, “She hasn’t said anything to me yet, but I bet she suspects it. Especially since we’ve been keeping in touch so much since she moved away. There’s even been times I’ve hung up the phone on her to come to our hideout, and she’s pretty smart.”

“Kana-chan got it,” Futaba added in, “Since I started emailing her again just before her parents had a change of heart. She asked me about it, and I couldn’t lie to her. I think it’s fine that people know who’s a phantom thief, as long as we don’t go around announcing it, right?”

“Agreed,” Makoto nodded, crossing her arms, “Friends can know, if there’s a reason to tell them or if they figure it out. Trying to get out of somebody directly asking ‘you’re a phantom thief, aren’t you’ is bound to just cause more problems.”

“But what if somebody figures it out who’s technically close to you, but not in a good way…?” Haru questioned, “I mean… Those types of people do exist.”

“...I guess we’ll just have to burn that bridge if we get to it,” Ann answered, then looked to Akira again, throwing on a smile, “So like, Joker! You said you were gonna talk to somebody about our palace infiltration, right? Shouldn’t you be getting there?”

\--------------------

“Kurusu?” Chihaya questioned as she saw him approach, furrowing her brow, “It’s already dark, but… Didn’t we fulfill our deal already? You do know it’s afternoons for your readings, right?”

“I need something,” He answered, then sat down in the seat across from her. She gave him an odd look, then glanced around and leaned forward.

“Well, I’m always glad to help if you need it!” Chihaya laughed, waving one hand, then narrowed her eyes, “But I’ll need you to tell me what it is. I mean… What could possibly be important that you’d want from me, if you can change fate?”

“I need to know two different fates,” Akira answered, dipping his head so the light above her stand glinted off of them, “I need a reading on what will happen if the Phantom Thieves change the heart of Kunikazu Okumura… And a reading on what will happen if they don’t.”

“You say ‘they’, as if I don’t know…” Chihaya chuckled, holding the hand she’d been waving around to her cheek instead, “That’s quite the clever request, though. After all, now that I know the nature of those changes in fate, I could determine what that change can bring… But, are you really sure that you’ll trust me with something so complicated?”

“I believe in you,” He nodded.

“Good grief, Kurusu. You always know just what to say, in so few words,” Chihaya sighed, then spread her cards, “Well, I don’t know if I can predict what will happen after a change of heart just yet… So I’ll do a reading on the future as it stands now, then see if my attempt at the other one says anything different.”

Chihaya took a deep breath, then started to turn the cards over, and with the last one done, groaned and leaned on her hand, “Sorry to say, but it looks like… Okumura Foods will continue to grow and prosper. Someone linked to them will be thrown into a life of suffering…” She then perked up, “Oh, but… It’s not all terrible. Kunikazu Okumura, after achieving political success, will have a change of heart by his own free will, and reform his company to be more kind to its employees. It’s after this change of heart that he’ll end up beating Masayoshi Shido for the prime minister position… And inform the world of who the Phantom Thieves’ enemy is.”

“That’s not bad,” Morgana whispered to Akira, “It’s not as awful as what would happen if we let any of our other targets slide, anyway…”

“As for how it will impact you as an individual,” Chihaya turned the final card over, “...You’ll be the only one whose name a man named Sugimura can recall, and a complaint will be filed against you for ‘disruptive activity’. You’ll be arrested…” She raised a hand toward him, “But your probation won’t be up! The complaint won’t hold enough water, given the number of adults who’ll stand up as character witnesses for you…”

“I see. The other fate?” Akira questioned, tilting his head. So Haru really would be sold off if they missed the deadline, but… The other aspects stood out. With Futaba’s palace, failure would mean the collapse of Japan; and every prior deadline referred to misfortune for every member of the Phantom Thieves. This was a problem which, aside from Haru’s fate, could blow over on its own and work out for the better. Just more proof that choosing a target based on hacked rankings couldn’t be the best idea.

“Yes, of course,” Chihaya nodded, then pulled up her cards, shuffled them, and laid out another spread. As soon as she flipped them over, she leaned backward, covering her mouth with widened eyes. She just stared at Akira for a few moments, then took a deep breath and dropped her hands, “It really is different…” She mumbled, then addressed him with a grim seriousness in her voice, “Kurusu, _this_ is the path towards ruin.”

“How could that be?” Akira questioned, leaning forward and peering at the cards. Ruin was predicted for him from the start, so how could a changed fate be the one which led to that supposed inevitability?

“If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because that fate… Is not a path that you are choosing,” Chihaya’s voice was soft and concerned, “If changing fate is the path which someone else has sent you down… It seems that becoming a puppet of society is what leads you to your doom. That is, if you want to believe my prediction. It just seems to me that a change in this man’s heart is no deviation from your fate. Some bad things are simply meant to happen, after all…”

“What is this ruin?” He continued to pry; he didn’t want to forsake Haru, and needed to weigh the options. If this ruin was something simple, like his own death, then that was a sacrifice he could make for the sake of his friends. It wasn’t something which he was eager to do, but it did sit in his mind that if it came down to it, he’d die so that others could flourish.

“I…” Chihaya looked away, “I’m not sure you want to hear this. I could be wrong, after all. This is very strange territory I’m trying to do a reading for, after all-”

“You’ve never been wrong before,” Akira answered with resolve, holding eye contact with her even as she tried to break it.

“This ruin if you change Okumura’s heart… He will die,” Chihaya answered, shaking her head, “He will die, others will die, others will suffer. There is also a very foggy read on _your_ death. Perhaps you’ll have a heart attack and be resucitated or something like that… And the Phantom Thieves will be reviled. Something about framing you for those mental shutdowns which have been happening since before you moved here,” She bit her bottom lip, “Forgive me for saying this, but I’d really recommend… Not taking this path. This is the kind of future I wouldn’t want to see, if it was at all preventable.”

“That doesn’t sound good at all,” Morgana commented, “Both of those futures seem less than perfect, but if somebody’s manipulating us into changing Okumura’s heart, then it could end up being a bigger problem… But I’m worried about Haru, too! We’ll have to talk to the others about this. It’s definitely the most serious decision the Phantom Thieves have needed to make.”

“Wow, that cat of yours sure is loud,” Chihaya noted, leaning over to look at Morgana, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that it understood what I just said about your future… Well, it’s up to you if you believe me, or if you take my advice, but you know… You really helped me. So I’d love if you could let me return the favor this way.”

“I’ll discuss it with my team. Thank you,” Akira nodded, pushing up his glasses as he stood again, then offered Chihaya a small smile, “It really helped me, Chihaya.”

“Anytime,” She smiled back, “Akira.”

\------------------

“I see…” Haru mumbled after Akira relayed the fortune he’d received, “So it really is somebody trying to hurt the Phantom Thieves, and it was just a coincidence that I, another persona user, had reason to want his heart changed…” She shook her head, tears pricking at her eyes, “No… I just wanted him to have a change of heart… I can’t go through with this, if that’s the consequence.”

“Are you sure?” Futaba asked, “I’m sure that we could push through it, if that happened… Er, eventually. At least three of us are smart enough to come up with a solution if we ended up in such a desperate situation. I just can’t think of anything yet. If only we knew more details on how the mental shutdowns happen… But I’ve already been trying as hard as I can to get ahold of Mom’s research.”

“It’s fine. I guess that Sugimura isn’t the worst guy…” Haru sighed, holding her hands close to herself and refusing to look at any of them, “And it will help my father to eventually have a less dangerous change of heart, too. It isn’t like he’d kill me, and… Maybe that’s the price of living a life in luxury after all.”

“That’s some bullshit!” Ryuji explained, slamming a hand down on the table in front of him, “Changing somebody’s heart is the worse path? Who’s to say he won’t be killed and get us framed anyway?”

“I trust Chihaya,” Akira shook his head, and Ryuji laid off.

“I have to admit, all of this seems plausible, and she sounds like a reliable person,” Ann mumbled, “But Ryuji has a point too. How will we avoid being framed? An enemy wouldn’t just lay off because we’re not acting.”

“Actually…” Makoto spoke, standing up, “Thinking about it, in order to properly frame us, chances are they need us to act. Our calling cards that have been seen by the public so far… Were written first by Ryuji, then Yusuke, then primarily me. The writing style between the three of us is unique, and not able to be replicated just yet. Not to mention, I believe our enemy doesn’t know how we steal hearts without killing the palace ruler. Even with a fake calling card, and the rankings, something drastic would have to happen to actually link a mental shutdown to us.”

“Something drastic?” Yusuke questioned, staring up at her with concern set into his face, “...A mental shutdown mid-confession, perhaps? That would explain the baiting.”

“That’s horrible…” Haru muttered, “Do you really think somebody would do that?”

“If it’s the person who’s responsible for the mental shutdowns…” Futaba shook her head, wrapping her arms around her knees, “I wouldn’t put anything past them! Thanks to them, my mom died right before my eyes. Whoever it is, really is worse scum than anybody the Phantom Thieves have changed the heart of before.”

“Even so, we should take measures against incident,” Makoto spoke again, looking up at the ceiling as she thought, “Hm… Well, I know this sounds like an awful idea, but I think we may need to disband the Phantom Thieves. Maybe not as a permanent thing, but maybe… We release a statement saying that due to circumstances, we need to stick to small fry for a while. Changes of heart in mementos… And anything with a _real_ calling card besides forum posts would have to be the work of copycats. After all, it seems our enemy only uses palaces.”

“I really hate the idea of shutting down the Phantom Thieves!” Ryuji noted, crossing his arms, “But I’d rather say we’re disbanding than get branded as murderers. So I agree with this. It’ll be like the changes of heart, right? We all gotta agree on this plan.”

“I’m reluctant to say it, but I’m afraid that I have to assert my cooperation as well,” Yusuke nodded slowly, “It isn’t as if this will be over. The bonds that we share, strengthened by combat side by side, will continue. After all, Mementos will remain open to us. Perhaps it will even expand _without_ conquering palaces.”

“It’s kinda disappointing for this to happen right after I joined, but I definitely agree that it’s the best thing to do!” Futaba raised a finger in the air, “Besides, we can continue after Haru’s dad reveals the identity of the real culprit behind the mental shutdowns. I guess as a persona user, they won’t have a palace, but I’ll figure out some way to get revenge for my mom.”

“I joined the Phantom Thieves to help people and inspire courage in them,” Ann stretched her hands up above her head, “So if going on hiatus is what will help people most, then I’m willing to go along with it… I mean, it’s really up to Haru-senpai, right?” She turned to Haru, “I’d hate to be in your position. You have to choose between two different bad things happening to you…”

“You don’t have to call me senpai,” Haru shook her head, then took a deep breath and steeled her resolve, “I want to let things run their course. I’ll go with Sugimura. I’m sure it won’t be forever, and I want my father to live! And… I want to continue working with you,” She tucked her hair out of her face, “I guess once I’m living with him, I won’t have a lot of time for thievery, but whenever I can… you’re all the first people I’d consider friends, that I’ve had. I hope you feel the same way… And it means a lot to me that you’d be so considerate of my feelings.”

“Huh? Of course you’re our friend,” Futaba tilted her head to the side, “I can’t speak for these guys, but if I didn’t consider you my friend then there’s no way I’d be this comfortable around you!”

“Ah, thank you,” Haru nodded, then looked around, “I’m going to continue going to school until graduation, so… Seeing all of you will be a nice break. But don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll manage.”

“So we’re decided?” Makoto asked, and everyone nodded. She looked to Akira, “Okay. You can tell the admin of the phansite to put our statement up, right?” Akira nodded again, “Thank you. So everyone… The Phantom Thieves are now on hiatus. Behave as normal students from here on out. Except for you, Ryuji… It wouldn’t kill you to study a little more, right?”

“Why’s it always gotta be me?” He groaned, sinking into his chair.

Futaba just sat there, peering at Haru with narrowed eyes. Akira glanced over, and noted the look she had. She was scheming something. He’d have to ask her later.

\------------------

Five days later, Futaba wandered into Leblanc in the evening, dropped into a booth, and lay down across the bench with one hand raised in the air, “Sojirooo, I hunger. And can I have some coffee too??”

“Coffee?” Sojiro lifted an eyebrow, “Futaba, are you sure you don’t want an iced cocoa? Last I heard, you didn’t like bitter things.”

“I don’t,” She moaned, “I’m just soooo tired, I need caffeine! I need it.”

“You don’t need to force yourself to drink something you hate just because of that,” He chuckled, shaking his head, then looked over to see Akira coming down the stairs, “Ah, nice timing. Think you could run out to the grocery store and pick up a nice, sweet energy drink for Futaba? She seems to have done something to exhaust herself.”

Akira nodded, then glanced at her on his way out. Evidently, she’d carried through on what she was scheming the other day. Well, he’d get her caffeine first, then find out what she’d done.

“So, what did you do to tire yourself out this much, Futaba?” Sojiro asked as he spooned some curry out of the pot, and some rice from the one next to it for her, “If it was anyone else’s but your own fault, I want to know. These old bones can still come to your defense if necessary, you know.”

“Nothing like that,” Futaba yawned as she sat up straight and looked to Sojiro, “I just went out on my own, and that’s tiring… I’d tell you if I’d been in any danger, or if anything bad happened. Mom would have wanted to know… So I know you’d want to know too.”

“That’s my girl,” Sojiro muttered, then put the plate in front of her.

“What was that? Didn’t quite hear you,” She questioned as she picked up the spoon and started to eat, stuffing her face despite her current low energy.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” He shook his head, then looked up as the bell on the door rang. Akira walked in, then put the energy drink down in front of Futaba before sliding into the bench opposite her.

“Thanks man,” She smiled as she grabbed the drink and popped the top, chugging half the can before putting it back down and continuing to eat without another word. Sojiro just laughed a bit as he watched her.

“Well, I think that I’ll close up then. Feel free to stay here or come on home, Futaba,” Sojiro looked towards the door, “It’s bad form to stay open past the posted hours, after all.”

“Huh?” Futaba froze, looking to Sojiro, “Hey Sojiro, aren’t you worried about leaving us alone here together? Potentially overnight?”

“Eh, I have my reasons to believe that won’t be a problem,” He laughed a bit again as he draped his apron over the counter and shrugged on a coat, “When you’ve been around as long as I have, you can tell who’s got a crush on who. And when it comes to you two, that’s certainly not each other.”

“Wh-whoa,” Futaba turned red as she stared at Sojiro, “That’s a really scary power! So you seriously know who me and Akira like?”

“Of course. You are children I’m responsible for, I have to be able to tell what’s going on in your heads from time to time. Don’t worry, I’ll keep my mouth shut about it,” He winked, then turned and stepped outside, closing the door behind himself.

“Wow…” Futaba mumbled, poking at her curry and giving Akira an incredulous look, “Sojiro really cares about both of us to be able to tell something like that! I mean, I can’t tell who _you_ like…” She turned away and pouted, “Can you tell who I like?”

“You liked Mishima. But that’s changing,” Akira explained, tapping the table with a smirk on his face. Futaba could tell he wasn’t going to elaborate.

“O-Oh,” She squished up her face, “Guess it’s just because I don’t know a lot about people in the first place…”

“You’ll get there!” Morgana commented, hopping out of Akira’s bag and onto the table, “Anyway, you can’t possibly tell who _I’ve_ got a crush-”

“It’s Ann,” Futaba deadpanned, then lit up and smiled, “Hey, I know enough about people to guess that!”

“Ugh…” Morgana mumbled, then went to go upstairs, “I’ll leave you to your conversation, then.”

“...So what did you do today?” Akira asked, standing up to grab himself some curry and rice as well. Sojiro had left the stove on with him in mind, it seemed.

“I bugged a house,” Futaba answered, and Akira immediately dropped the ladle onto the floor. She rolled her eyes, “Is that super shocking? After the metaverse, spy stuff in real life is nothing! Well, it’s something, given how exhausted I was… And I was really scared too, to be sneaking into somebody’s house, but I made sure nobody was home, and I disabled the security system remotely before I even stepped on the property. I was careful.”

“Whose house?” Akira asked, picking the ladle back up and washing it before he continued.

“Sugimura’s,” Futaba answered, only to get a blank stare from him, “Jeeze, you really forget people a lot, don’t you…? Haru-chan’s fiance. I figured if she was going to be stuck living there, we should have a way to keep tabs on that place… She said it wasn’t like he’d kill her, but you never know what a bad person might do. I have to be able to send you guys there if something goes seriously wrong.”

“You’re a good person, Futaba,” Akira chuckled as he sat back down, now with curry.

“Really? I mean, I did a bad thing today all because I was worried about our friend,” Futaba rested her chin in her hands, “I mean, thanks to you being my key item, I figured out how to be okay without you, but there’s still a lot I don’t know about human interaction and what’s the right thing to do… You really think I was good today?” Akira nodded without saying anything, and she smiled, “Thanks… I was hoping that’d be the case. You know, today was my last chance. Haru-chan’s being sent there later tonight.”

Before Akira could say anything else about the situation at hand, there was a knock on the door. Futaba stood up and walked over there to peer through the glass, then ran away and hid behind the counter, “Akira, it’s the police!”

With this information, he knew what was going on. Chihaya predicted this, after all. He walked up to the door and opened it up, just staring at the police as they spoke to him, “Ah. Akira Kurusu, yes? We’ve received a complaint about you, and seeing as you’re on probation already, we can’t ignore it. We’ll have to take you into custody.”

“Understood,” Akira nodded, then turned to look back in the shop, “See you later, Futaba.”

Futaba watched as they took Akira away, then frowned and went upstairs. If she wasn’t at home, then she could resist the temptation of listening in on Sugimura’s house more, even alone. She knew he had an old game system, so she’d just go ahead and use that. She played through the entirety of Star Forneus, but still wasn’t tired thanks to that energy drink. Calling Sojiro to explain Akira’s arrest wouldn’t be any good, since he’d be asleep already…

She groaned and pulled out her phone, plugged in her headphones, and went to the app for the bugs she’d placed. Once there, she navigated to the one for Sugimura’s house. It wasn’t like she bugged a lot of things, but Cafe Leblanc, her own room, Akira’s phone… Even her limited world had room for plenty of wiretaps. And now… this one.

With a heavy sigh, she gave in and clicked it.

_”I-I, you know, I hear that we shouldn’t do this sort of thing until we’re actually married, you know, Sugimura-”_

_“I’ve heard that too, but since we’re definitely going to be married, I don’t really think it applies here.”_

Futaba immediately regretted her decision.


	2. Chapter 2

Futaba ripped the headphones off her head in horror, after a few more minutes spent simply in shock, listening but not really hearing. Every word had wormed its way into her brain, but she wasn’t processing them. When she was finally able to escape, she found herself feeling the same as she had when her heart was still distorted and those hallucinations still plagued her. She couldn’t make it _stop_.

After a few deep breaths, she closed the app, then pulled her headphones back on with those sounds now gone. She opened her contacts, and started going down the list of people who she might be able to call for help from. Akira… wasn’t going to be able to answer his phone right now. She’d go alphabetically through the rest, then. Ann, Inari, Makoto, Mishima, Ryuji, Sojiro… Was that all she had for people who could help? Well, she had to try.

Texting… wasn’t urgent enough, was it? It was easier to ignore a text tone than a call, so she’d have to go ahead and do it… Well, she could manage if she garbled her voice a little. Even with friends, a direct conversation one-on-one was something which she’d only been able to pull off with Akira. The situation did call for what she would consider to be desperate measures, though. She called Ann… and reached voicemail. Then Yusuke, then Makoto, and still no answers. She was beginning to feel defeat; She’d thought at least _Inari_ wouldn’t go to sleep at a decent hour.

Mishima answered, though.

“Uh, hey?” He spoke into the phone, brow furrowed, “Caller ID said Alibaba… Didn’t you hack the Phantom Thieves’ website at one point…?”

“Oh yeah I did do that,” Futaba had forgotten about the time she’d been asked to prove her hacking abilities to the Phantom Thieves before, “But uh, it’s Futaba. We’ve met a few times with Akira around…”

“Oh!” Mishima’s tone switched out of confusion, “I didn’t recognize with the call ID and the filter on your voice… Are you testing out a voice filter for something like streaming? I’ll still vouch for that, you know, I’d definitely watch you play games! But… What do you want to late at night? Wait, are you going to start streaming _now_? Are you seriously taking my advice for the type of stream you can only do late at night? That was… Kind of a joke, you know!”

“I-I…” Futaba stuttered, then looked down to see her hand was shaking. No, she was doing okay at first… But Mishima had such awful timing to bring up something like that. What she’d heard from Sugimura’s house was still rattling around inside her head, and he brings up that joke about doing dirty video game streams? Well, she supposed she had herself to blame for that. What was she expecting? People’s brains always declined late at night. She stayed on the line for a while longer while Mishima prodded her, then she hit the button to hang up.

What could _Mishima_ have done to help anyway? What could anyone do? Futaba realized that in her panicked attempt at finding somebody to ask for help from, she hadn’t actually thought through the fact that there wasn’t a lot which could be done right now. There was the police… Evidence obtained illegally wasn’t the best thing to do, but maybe if she handed over such absurdly incriminating audio then they’d overlook the way she obtained it… Well, she was scared of being arrested. Maybe she’d be better off using her own computer, so she could send the evidence in anonymously behind a billion proxies.

Futaba took a deep breath, then stood up, thrusting her phone into her pocket before she, for once, lifted the shoulders on her jacket to actually cover her shoulders, crossed her arms, then went downstairs. She sighed as she looked around Leblanc, “Morgana? Where did you end up?” She called out, hoping to at least get some form of accompaniment. There was no response, so she called again, louder this time, “Morganaaaaa?” 

Well, still no answer. Maybe he’d ended up with Akira? After all, the bag did go along to the police station, but Futaba had just thought Morgana wasn’t in the bag at the time. Okay… Not thought so much as hoped. With Morgana missing, then she’d have to get back home alone. It wasn’t like this was something which she was altogether unfamiliar with, but not this late at night. She steeled herself, then opened the door. Silence awaited her outside. October got cold at night, but her coat was enough to keep her from shivering. She kept a hand on the door as she checked her pockets to ensure she had her key, and she did have the one for the Sakura residence and one for Leblanc, though she didn’t expect she’d need the latter.

With this assurance, she let the door close behind her, then looked out into the alley. There was nobody there, all that moved was the shifting shadows. Shadows like these weren’t frightening at all, after meeting with the monsters of the same name in the metaverse. She gave a long glance out towards the road, watching the headlights, then the other direction toward the rest of the shops in the backstreets. She knew the grocery store, and that the theater existed, but despite living in the area for so long lacked intimate knowledge of what the neighborhood contained.

All she needed to know right now, though, was how to get back home. This was a route she had memorized, even when she could hardly see. She pulled her phone back out to use the flashlight, but it didn’t help, so she put it away to preserve her battery. Even when she had regular access to chargers, it was stressful to let her battery drop below seventy percent! With that decided, Futaba took two steps forward, then froze. There was a familiar feeling of dread… A feeling which couldn’t be solved when her heart was stolen.

After all, the distorted desire… Was the desire to die for her mother’s sake. Being afraid of the world was something which did take more effort to get over, and she had the non-thief variety of the Phantom Thieves to thank for that. Akira to thank for her further rehabilitation beyond that… But it didn’t change that she was prone to severe anxieties, prone to hallucinations and paranoia… And alone in the pitch-black outdoors was, of all environments, the most likely to bring back these issues that Futaba was sure she’d buried earlier. She was shaking, two steps away from Leblanc, and found her resolve dripping away.

She had to do this, she had to push through this and help Haru. Who was she to let herself be so impacted by this, when Haru was the one who was suffering? Why would she find herself slipping into a traumatized state at the trauma of somebody else? She took one more step, then tripped, falling onto the street. She didn’t catch herself on her hands, just going limp as she lay against the pavement. The suffocating fear was pressing against her, and she began to wonder if it really was a hopeless endeavor. Even if she was able to send the evidence anonymously, she knew the police were unreliable. They’d assume it was no emergency, if they acted at all. They had arrested Akira on nothing but the complaint of Sugimura. Would sending this evidence tonight be brushed off as a counterstrike to Akira’s arrest, given it was pointing towards the same person who’d filed that complaint?

She felt… hopeless. Well, this was how real life felt, wasn’t it? Looking back, it was a shocking sort of miracle that she’d been able to have her heart changed, to move on from her problems without a great deal of effort on her part. Changing hearts, she’d once said, seemed too good to be true; so now that she couldn’t just count on Phantom Thievery to solve problems, reality was hitting her hard. She found herself still unable to move, her helplessness translating in a physical way, but a sob bubbled up from her chest and she found herself crying as she lay on the ground.

“Hey, kid, you okay?” A voice broke through her thoughts, and she looked up to see a woman in a lab coat crouching over her, clearly concerned, but a stranger nonetheless. Futaba couldn’t bring herself to answer, face twitching with her terror at being immobile before somebody she didn’t know, “Huh, guess not…” The woman shook her head in exasperation, and grabbed Futaba’s wrist, checking her pulse, then other vitals. After seeing the confusion on this woman’s face as she couldn’t determine any reason for Futaba’s condition, she took a deep breath and tried to talk.

“I-I-I-I,” She stammered through heavy breaths, still choked up, but forced herself to continue. This woman was showing kindness, and she needed to get back inside before somebody less friendly happened upon her, “In my… In my pocket, it’s a key, the cafe,” She wasn’t making much sense, she was quite aware, but those were like keywords for the nav. Just what was needed.

“Hm…” The stranger looked up to see Leblanc, a whole two feet away from Futaba, and though she grew more confused, she found the key in Futaba’s pocket, unlocked the door, and brought her inside, setting her down in one of the booths. Once inside, Futaba was able to get control of herself a little more, and was able to sit instead of lying down, propping herself against the table. The doctor sat down across from her, “You don’t have to talk. You’re showing all signs of severe shock. If you can answer my questions non-verbally, though, I’d appreciate it. I don’t want to leave you alone until I’m sure you’ll be okay.”

Futaba nodded.

“Thank you. My name is Tae Takemi,” She explained, folding her hands on the table in front of herself. She wasn’t planning on pressing Futaba for information on how she ended up in such a sorry state, but rather just to calm her down. This was a technique she often had to use at her often when she met children with broken bones and the like; to bypass the problem and just get them to stop crying, “This is a nice place. Do you know the owner?”

Futaba nodded again, tensing her shoulders and pulling her limbs in close to herself, trying to be as small as possible.

“How about the part-timer who lives upstairs here, hm? Akira Kurusu?” Takemi asked, and watched as Futaba’s face lit up, just a little. She still looked miserable, but at least that name seemed to make her more aware of her surroundings.

Futaba nodded again, then a deep frown set into her face. She put her face down on the table, hiding it in her arms, then spoke again, “He got arrested…” She mumbled, but Takemi managed to hear her despite this.

“Arrested?” Takemi questioned, then put her elbows on the table to rest her chin on her fists with a heavy sigh, “I see, so that’s what happened, is it? You were here with him, then he got taken away… So you tried to leave on your own, but got scared because it’s a back alley in the dark?”

Futaba lifted her head from the table and nodded again. That was close enough.

“I understand,” Takemi nodded, then stood up, reaching into the pocket of her lab coat. She pulled out a pallette of pills, breaking two off and dropping them in front of Futaba, “It’s understandable if you have trouble falling asleep in your current state of shock, so you can take those if you need it. I should be going… You going to be okay here?” Another nod, so Takemi walked to the door, “Oh, and don’t worry about Akira. That kid’s going to be alright. There’s no way he won’t get the charges dropped.”

“...I know,” Futaba whispered as the door closed behind Takemi, then picked up the sleeping pills and turned them over in her hand. She needed something to wash these down with, so she stood up. Her legs were still shaky, but she made her way to the fridge and found some milk, which she pulled out and brought to the table. Rather than getting a cup, the carton was almost empty, so she’d just drink straight from it and finish it off. With that done, she dropped the carton in the trash bin, then made her way upstairs and collapsed into Akira’s bed. Sojiro was right when he said that she had no romantic interest in Akira; he was, however, her key item, her party member, her best friend. Thus, holding onto his pillow as she drifted off to sleep… was a comfort.

\-----

“Futaba?” Sojiro’s voice roused her, and she blinked slowly as she woke, sitting up with Akira’s pillow still clutched to her chest. He crossed his arms over his chest, and sounded distraught, “Where’s Akira? Did something happen last night?”

Last night… Right. She rubbed her eyes, then released the pillow to hug Sojiro instead, “H-He got arrested after you left… Because of a complaint from some rich jerk, and so I was alone, and I tried to walk home but it was too late and dark and I got scared, and…” The bug… She couldn’t just keep that hidden, “The r-rich jerk who complained about Akira, I had bugged his house because our friend was being forced to move in there, and I listened in and he did bad things and I got really freaked out-!”

“...” Sojiro couldn’t think of what to say at first, just holding onto her, but after a while gave an exasperated sigh, “Well, sounds like you and this ‘rich jerk’ you mentioned are the only ones who’ve done anything illegal, by the way you’re saying it… But what’s the reason for this complaint, Futaba? Let’s go through this one thing at a time.”

Futaba let go of him, and sighed, looking away, “It’s really similar to how he got in trouble the first time… When all of us were out, we happened upon this guy being beyond mean to our friend Haru. He said he’d ‘get revenge on all of us’ for… Cockblocking him, I guess,” Her tone grew more aggressive as she spoke about Sugimura, “Sorry for the vulgarity, Sojiro, but idk how else to say it,” She shook her head and took a deep breath, trying to calm down more, “Apparently, Akira is the only one of us whose name that guy was able to figure out.”

“I see…” Sojiro shook his head, then patted her shoulder a bit, giving a reassuring smile, “Well, that complaint won’t be worth anything if some reliable adults vouch for Akira. His probation’s been going flawlessly so far, so it would seem awful strange for him to cause trouble willfully after trying so hard to stay on the straight and narrow for half a year.”

“Okay…” Futaba nodded, still frowning, “Do you think I should try to anonymously send the police that audio evidence I got of how that guy’s a really bad person? I mean, I could do it without them ever knowing it was me…”

“If you’re confident that it won’t come back to bite you, then there’s no harm in trying,” He rubbed the back of his neck and turned around, “But I wouldn’t get your hopes up. We live in a world where important people can get away with just about anything they please…” Sojiro thought back to his own experience with this concept. It worked out eventually, but for a while there he was scared that he could lose Futaba to somebody who was known to be abusive towards her. It was a miracle that man decided to lay off.

“It won’t,” Futaba nodded, then stood up, “Come back to bite me, that is. So, um… I’m going to go home so I can do that. I can’t disguise it confidently enough from my phone.”

“Will you be okay, going back there on your own?” Sojiro questioned, following her as she made her way over to the stairs.

“Yeah,” She nodded, looking up at him with a nervous smile, “I’m feeling better than I was last night… And it’s light out now. So I’ll be okay. You can open up the shop-”

“I’m not opening today,” Sojiro shook his head, putting both hands on his hips now, “I’m going to the station to vouch for Akira. The sooner I do, the more they’ll believe me. Uh… Do you happen to know if there are any other adults who’d testify to his lawfulness?”

“There’s the clinic doctor,” Futaba noted, hands clasped together behind her back, “She helped me last night and said that she knows Akira… And I think he said that he gets along with his homeroom teacher, too,” She tilted her head and her smile turned more genuine, “Thanks, Sojiro. You’ll get his name cleared, won’t you?” She chuckled a bit, “Even when you say you don’t care what happens to Akira. You’re like… A tsundere dad. Seeya!” Before she had time to hear his reaction to that, Futaba went outside, and let out a sigh in relief as no wave of terror crashed into her in the daylight.

The hopeless feeling of last night was a result of everything happening at the same time. Now that she was sure Akira would be okay, and she wasn’t afraid for her own safety on the walk back home, all she had to worry about was Sugimura and Haru. With it clear in her mind that this was the morst important thing at the moment, she was no longer feeling helpless, but instead resolved to do everything that she could. Well, that was what she’d done last night; all that she could. In the moment, though, there wasn’t a lot that she _could_ manage.

When Futaba arrived back in her room, she got to work sending the evidence over. This was what she could do. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Maybe it wouldn’t help, but there was no way she could sit idle while a friend of hers suffered. After all, the Phantom Thieves… They were the first friends she’d been able to make since Kana, in elementary school. And even then, it was only Kana. These friends accepted and embraced her ‘freakish’ traits, so she was not about to abandon a single one of them.

\-------------------

“Sojiro Sakura, huh?” The officer at the front desk of the station questioned, checking through her computer, “Well… You had temporary custody of Akira Kurusu, on probation, right? Are you here about him?”

“Yes, I am. I’m here to dispute the complaint made against him, actually. As his guardian on his probation, and a trustworthy adult, I can serve as a character witness,” Sojiro explained, and the officer sighed, but then nodded and led him back to the holding cell where Akira was. Upon seeing Sojiro, Akira just waved awkwardly. Sojiro shook his head with exasperation and stepped up, “Good grief, Akira. Seems like people just love pinning trouble on you.”

“Bad vibes,” Akira shrugged as he answered, but otherwise didn’t seem incredibly worried at the moment. Unlike the assault charges, this was merely a ‘complaint of disturbance’, which was much easier to debunk. Being arrested for a complaint was uncommon in the first place anyway, and this was only so severe because of the record he already had.

“Well, I don’t think you’ll be stuck in there too long, and you definitely won’t get expelled,” Sojiro explained, and though he was speaking to Akira, the person in charge of handling disturbance complaints had walked over, and Sojiro was speaking in a way which did include him too, “After all, I heard what really happened from Futaba, and you’ve got a good record going for you since you arrived in Tokyo.”

“Hello, Sakura-san,” The officer greeted him, then looked at Akira, “Is this so? Well, what’s this ‘what really happened’ that you heard?”

“Right,” Sojiro turned to the officer, “My daughter informed me that she was there when the supposed disturbance was made. Those two and some of their other friends just happened to accidentally happen upon a private moment, and the complaint was made against this guy because the person who made it didn’t know the names of any of the other kids.”

“Hm… And you find this story believable?” The officer questioned, and Sojiro nodded.

“Yes, absolutely. I’m sure this was just an understandable accident. It would be _quite_ tempting, if some children stumbled in on your attempt at romance, to try and get revenge by filing a legal complaint against them. I just hope you take this complaint not at face value, but for what it clearly is. A petty waste of law enforcement’s valuable time,” Sojiro answered, “He’s been a model citizen on probation, and student too. His homeroom teacher will attest to that.”

“Will she now?” The officer questioned, then crossed his arms, “Well, what’s her full name?”

“Sadayo Kawakami,” Akira spoke up from the holding cell, though Sojiro had actually remembered the name. Unlike Akira, he remembered people with relative ease; something which was important in the food service industry.

“We’ll be calling her over. If she doesn’t verify this claim, then I’m afraid we’ll have to carry through on the complaint. Now, given it is only a complaint, which is such a minor offense, we could keep it off his record if he pays small reparations to the one who made it.”

Akira nodded in understanding. If that was what he had to do… He’d be able to pay, even without collecting treasure from palaces now. He did have four different jobs which let him come to work whenever he had the time, after all. Though, on principle, he would really prefer not to give a single cent to Sugimura. Getting interrupted served him right, he deserved no reparations for that.

When Kawakami arrived, she immediately groaned when she saw Akira in the cell, crossing her arms, “Ugh, seriously? Did you get framed _again_?”

Akira shook his head and answered, “Witnessed a domestic dispute.”

“Jeeze, that’s all this time?” Kawakami waved one hand in the air, biting the inside of her cheek, “And somebody seriously called the police on you for doing that? Must have a lot of nerve to be confident you’d get in trouble and not them. Though I guess even I judged you for your record at first…”

“Kawakami-san?” The officer asked, and she turned to him and immediately changed her expression to a very fake smile, but one which worked out anyway. She had a lot of practice.

“Yes officer, that’s me!” She nodded, then dropped the smile, “And I see you’ve arrested my student… You know, there must be some sort of mistake here.”

“So you’ll vouch that he’s been following the law?” The officer questioned.

“Not only has he been, but he definitely wouldn’t break it!” She gave an enthusiastic shake of her head, “He’s a really considerate guy, and promised that for my sake he wouldn’t get into any trouble. Besides that, he’s just way too good a person! Also… He _did_ score in the top ten on his last exams. I was hoping he could get the top spot in the exams starting next week, but that’s not going to happen if you accuse him of something and keep him from his studies…” 

“I see. Well, in light of the testimony to his character, and to the nature of this complaint, we will have to disregard the complaint made against him. It won’t go on his record, and no reparations will be necessary,” The officer sighed and shook his head, “However, I’m afraid I can supervise no sort of disciplinary action against the one who made this false complaint. That would have to go through someone with more authority than me.”

“I understand,” Akira nodded, standing up as he was let out of the holding cell. He understood that anyone with more authority than this officer would be susceptible to bribes, and political motivations. That was how it always seemed to be with adults; if they had power, then they were powerless to the idea of gaining more.

“Come on then, kid,” Sojiro waved him over, “I’ll drive you home. Kawakami-san, how did you get here?”

“I took the subway,” Kawakami shrugged, “Why?”

“Well, you live near Yongen-Jaya, if I remember correctly,” Sojiro answered, keeping quiet around the police that Akira often called her over to make curry with the leftover ingredients, or coffee which he bottled and drank at other times. Sojiro did have to hope he wasn’t fostering a caffeine dependence in the kid, “So you can come on back with us.”

“Oh, thank you!” Kawakami nodded, “That would be nice… I don’t really _need_ to be saving money anymore, but since we’re going the same direction anyway, I’ll accept your offer.”

“Great, you’ve got shotgun,” Sojiro chuckled as he led the way out of the station, “Akira, you can sit in the back for making me come all the way out here.”

“Women only in your passenger seat,” Akira noted, remembering the comment Sojiro had made the first day he’d gone to Shujin Academy. Sojiro laughed at the fact that Akira could remember something like that, but constantly forgot things he ought to know, like who people were or the name of the one school which would accept a student with a criminal record.

\---------------

“Shido-san,” Akechi stepped forward, speaking softly, “It appears that our little burglary problem has come to a fitting resolution all on its own. Indeed, they’ve still left us a way to ensure the blame never comes to rest on our shoulders.”

“Hmm…” Shido leaned forward onto his desk, clasping his hands together and holding them to his lips, “It does seem that way. Accusing all future calling cards of being copycats, but nonetheless… Wouldn’t it be wise to cut back on activity, at least until this hiatus of the thieves is over?”

“With all due respect, sir, you were ready to act without an available scapegoat before the appearance of the Thieves,” Akechi frowned, looking away and stroking his chin, “Though… If that’s what you believe is best, then I will oblige.”

“Well, you are the one who knows how this all works. What do you think?” 

“I think,” Akechi adjusted his gloves, “There’s no way, after that statement, that anything involving changes of heart could be linked back to us. The Phantom Thieves set up a precedent of fighting against authority. At this point, the assumption will be they are copycat juveniles, fighting against the authority figures which cause them trouble. Nobody will think that the copycat crimes are at all linked to other authority figures.”

“You make a good point,” Shido nodded, “But what of our other subordinates?”

“Ah, always one step ahead,” Akechi chuckled with a wave of one hand, “I was just about to speak on that matter. I believe all we need to do is state that we are no longer taking contracts. This will allow you to maintain your connections for their importance on a realistic level, but distance us from any supernatural moral bankruptcy. Besides, if it does seem any of them are going to betray us, we can always deal with them then. Assuming, that is, you agree that preserving these connections is the most beneficial course of action.”

“Mm…” Shido leaned back in his chair, “And you’re sure that you’ll be able to crush anyone before they get the chance to cross me?”

“Of course,” Akechi nodded, making a small bow, “I will continue to serve you to my best ability, and I am quite confident that my best ability is, in fact, beyond suitable.”

“It had better be. Should you fail me, you know I won’t hesitate to _deal_ with you, yes?”

“I’m well aware of this fact. Thank you.”

\---------------------

“Um, hello… Could I please get whatever dark roast you’d most recommend, black? And uh, if it would be okay, an explanation of the coffee?” Haru asked, sitting down at the counter at Leblanc.

“Huh? Oh, it’s no trouble at all,” Sojiro shook his head, looking around, “Seeing as you’re the only customer here right now. I’ll get that together for you right away,” He started the drip, then took a long look at her, and noticed two things, “Do you mind if I ask a pair of somewhat strange questions, Miss?”

“N-No! Not at all,” She shook her head, fidgeting in her seat, “Ask away…”

“Well, the first one is if you’re friends with Akira. I feel like I’ve seen you come here with him a couple of times. The second one is how you got that nasty bruise on your forehead,” Sojiro questioned, scratching his cheek, “Though I understand if you’d rather not answer.”

“Oh, yes, I do know Akira,” She nodded, then lifted a hand to her forehead, “Nevermind about this… A-Anyway, is he here right now? I should probably at least say hi while I’m in the store anyway… Though I really did come for a cup of coffee. I actually started growing some coffee beans a few weeks ago, so I’d love to learn more.”

“Well, I’d be glad to teach you,” Sojiro nodded, then looked towards the stairs, “He came straight home today. He did spend most of yesterday and the night before in a holding cell, so I don’t blame him for just wanting to relax. He’s upstairs playing a game with Futaba. Why don’t you say hello while I brew the coffee?”

“Right,” Haru nodded, then turned around in the chair and stood up, then made her way upstairs. Just as Sojiro said, Akira and Futaba were playing one of those retro games against each other, but it was a strange sight. Futaba’s movements were usually so energized when it came to things like this, but now she was a mirror of the solemn play which Akira was taking part in, “Um, Akira? Futaba?”

“...” Futaba looked up without a word, then grew wide-eyed. She sat in shock for a moment before speaking while she got to her feet in a slow and deliberate manner, “Haru-chan?”

“Hm?” She questioned, holding her hands close to her chest and looking down at the floor, “Is it that surprising to see me…? I did say that I’d try to still see you all, even after moving in with Sugimura…”

“You did, but after you actually went there I was kind of really sure you’d hate us,” Futaba noted, walking up to Haru with her lip quivering, “Y-You aren’t mad that we ended up not being able… to change your father’s heart? And that you had to go there?”

“I could never hate you guys, you’re the first friends I’ve had,” Haru waved off the concerns, turning her head away to try and keep her face out of view, “It’s not so terrible, anyway…”

“Haru,” Akira spoke up from his chair, and she couldn’t help but whip her head around to make eye contact at his somber tone, “Futaba was listening.”

“Don’t tell her that!” Futaba exclaimed, turning back around to look at him, “I-I totally violated her privacy… If she didn’t hate me before she’ll absolutely hate me after finding out that I bugged Sugimura’s house…”

“What?” Haru asked, turning back around to Futaba, holding a look of shock for a few moments before she spoke again, “O-Oh, so you know what happened… But… I bet that you did it because you were worried about me, right? I remembered you said that was why you bugged Leblanc, so…” She covered her face with her hands now, shaking her head, “P-Please don’t get yourselves in trouble! I knew this was going to happen, and… I’m okay with it! It’s still better than letting my father die. Besides, who’s to say that if we had changed his heart, that I would have gotten out of the marriage before he died? That would just be two awful things, so…”

“I sent the audio to the police,” Futaba muttered, “I wanted to do more, but it was really late, and I got scared…”

“I see…” Haru nodded, then gave Futaba a smile, “Thank you for trying, but I don’t think it will change anything. It means a lot to me that you’d be so concerned, though… You really are true friends, buit I just think that… It’d be too much trouble for you to keep worrying about me. So just know that I’ll be fine!”

“I can’t help but worry though,” Futaba shook her head, and the quiver in her lip from earlier gave way to crying once more, “I-I heard it… And I have to keep listening, because what if… What if it got even worse? What if he got even more angry, and-”

“Futaba-chan,” Haru shook her head, still smiling, “That won’t happen. I really am stronger than I look, you know. That’s all I need to do to be okay… I just need to decide that when I’m with Sugimura, I’m not Haru, I’m Noir… And Noir is strong, and can handle anything.”

“But I don’t want you to die, Haru-chan!” Futaba shouted, then froze up and took a step backwards as Akira and Haru stared at her in silence. She started shaking again with the obvious misstep she’d just made, then turned and ran downstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes! I have responsibilities but all I've been inspired to write is this fic! Hope you like the fruits of my disastrous life choices!

Akira stood frozen still while Futaba ran off, but as soon as he composed himself from the shock of hearing her yell so emphatically, he ran downstairs. She was nowhere to be seen, so Akira started toward the door, but stopped at Sojiro’s voice, “Akira,” He turned to Sojiro, but stayed in stance to continue running when released from the conversation, “What did you _say_ to her?”

“Nothing. She’s Freudian,” Akira gave a cryptic answer, then took off again to continue out to the streets and chase after Futaba. Sojiro watched him go in confusion, then turned to look at Haru, who sat down at the counter once more.

“...It wasn’t anything either of us said. She ran off after something that _she_ said,” Haru explained, shaking her head, “So I think Akira means it was a Freudian Slip. I don’t think it was that strange a thing to say, but she was awfully loud… Which seems strange for her.”

“Hmm, that’s right,” Sojiro nodded, then looked up at the ceiling, “I’m probably sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, but I did hear what she said. You’re not in danger, are you?”

“In danger…” Haru frowned, looking down at the counter as Sojiro slid her coffee in front of her, “Well, that depends on your definition of it, but I do think that Futaba is overreacting a little… My situation isn’t good by any means, but she seems convinced that I might end up getting killed, which I’m sure isn’t going to happen…”

“Well, you know,” Sojiro offered an explanation, “Futaba’s had bad luck before. Have you heard about it?”

“Oh, yes,” Haru nodded, “We’re a group of outcasts, so we disclose a lot… I guess that’s why we ended up closer friends faster than most…”

“Well then, you have to realize. Futaba was bullied while she was going to school, and for a while, her mom was all she had. That’s why being blamed for her death hit her so hard,” He explained, “And now, she has friends for the first time in her life. I wouldn’t blame her for wanting to keep you all around.”

“I-I’m not blaming her!” Haru shook her head, holding both her hands in the air beside her shoulders, “I understand, anyway. I never had friends either, growing up, for a lot of reasons… Futaba and Akira and everyone, there’s a lot about them that makes me feel welcome to care in ways I never let myself before. That’s why… I don’t want Futaba to suffer for my pain. Like I said, it’s really not as severe as she’s making it out to be.”

It sounded quite a bit like Haru was only saying this to justify it to herself, to remain guarded from the reality of her situation. Sojiro could pick up on this sort of thing, though, and wasn’t about to do anything to upset the poor girl by pressing the matter further. Especially given the information he already had on the unlikeliness of anything changing anytime soon. Instead, he began to explain the nature of the coffee he’d served her.

\-------------------

Akira couldn’t find Futaba in Yongen-Jaya. He checked every corner, every store, and of course, Sojiro’s apartment. She was nowhere to be seen, so he knew that he had to broaden his search, and he ought to start with Futaba’s favorite part of Tokyo. Akihabara was his destination, so he got onto the subway. In the afternoon, there were plenty of trains still running, so he knew there was no way booking it on foot could get him there faster. Upon arriving to Shibuya, he stepped off the train to go ahead and transfer.

On his way to the proper line, still sprinting with little regard for anything in the area besides the potential flash of orange hair or atrocious green jacket, Akira’s wrist was grabbed. Rather than actually stop, he was going too quickly and ended up tripping when stopped, though the grip on his wrist was strong enough to keep him from actually toppling over. He turned his head to see Yusuke was the one who’d grabbed his wrist this way, and he was just staring ahead with a blank look as he spoke, “My, Akira. Why the absurd rush?”

Sheepishly, Akira stood up straight and reclaimed his hand, fidgeting with his bangs as he answered, “Have you seen Futaba?”

“Futaba?” Yusuke questioned, the deadpan expression turning to one of utter shock, “Has something happened to her? I received a late night missed call from her on Saturday, but I assumed it was merely a mistake, or her intention to speak to me about something trivial. Is she missing…?”

“Only since twenty minutes ago,” Akira answered, and saw as Yusuke visibly relaxed. Had his friends always been such worrywarts about each other? Well, he wasn’t one to speak, given he’d taken off at full tilt to track down Futaba when she stormed out after an uncharacteristic outburst.

“That is _less_ worrisome. Twenty minutes… Well, unless you…” His relief was gone as quickly as it had come, turning once more to a shocked concern, “Akira, could it be that you witnessed the youngest member of our little group’s kidnapping?”

Akira shook his head, then gave a skeletal explanation, “She made a social misstep then ran away.”

“I see… That does sound like something she would do, without considering the consequences of such an act,” Yusuke lifted a hand to his chin, contemplating, “I assume you’re going to her favorite spots in search of her, yes? Well then, I shall accompany you. If you are the one who she made the misstep around, then don’t you think she may be more willing to speak with her other close friend, ‘Inari’?”

“Whatever floats your boat,” Akira agreed, then took off again towards the train, this time with Yusuke chasing after him. Funny, he thought, how Yusuke still had some small athletic ability outside of the metaverse… He’d had it before they even met, now that Akira thought about it, since he’d run right out of a car to chase after Ann. Being an afternoon train outside of the usual commute hours, Akira and Yusuke were actually able to find two seats, and both took them after checking around to make sure there wasn’t anybody with a cane, or a similar reason to need the seats more than two virile youths.

“So…” Yusuke sighed now that they were no longer running, “If I am to guess, I’d say this supposed social misstep of hers was in relation to Haru,” Akira nodded in confirmation, so Yusuke continued, “Of course. Between her mother, and that elementary school friend of hers that we went to Mementos to help… Why, if I think of it that way, this is awfully similar, isn’t it? The difference is that the last time she discovered a friend of hers was a victim of such atrocities, it was the end of the friendship, correct?” Akira gave him a strange look, and Yusuke smirked, “You may be her best friend, but she’s told me some things too. We do text quite often, as she is a wonderful partner to discuss the artistic nature of the video game genre. She elaborated on the story of Kana-chan for me as soon as I so much as wondered about it.”

“You’re insightful,” Akira decided was the best response. He was impressed that Yusuke was drawing the connection between Haru and Kana, and that was no lie; but another time, he likely would have teased Yusuke for paying so much attention to the sensitivities of one person, given how disconnected with the real world he often seemed. Well, Akira was learning a lot in this situation, now that ‘change their heart’ was no longer a go-to solution for a problem of this magnitude. Not only were his friends all worried for each other’s sakes, but also got over their world-unwise habits to at least pay attention to the people they cared about on a more intimate level. In a way, the ‘disbanded’ Phantom Thieves were just cementing themselves as a closely-knit friend group now more than ever.

“Hmm… Is insightful the right word?” Yusuke questioned, eyes fixated on one of the advertisements affixed to the wall of the subway car, “I am one who sees the whole world, but only through the lens of an artist. That isn’t true insight… But when it comes to all of you, it’s something which I am certain of. Were I to paint a single member, it would be a poignant representation of friendship. A part of portraying that is knowing the likes, dislikes, and needs of the friend… For if I was to slip in that, then the image in my head would not be a finished painting at all. It’s important to me, that I continue to value all of you for the hope you give me.”

Akira didn’t respond to this, instead just answering with a soft chuckle. If he looked past the over-flowery language that Yusuke seemed to use for everything he said, then that statement was actually quite sappy, and dare he say, sweet. When they arrived in Akihabara, Akira led the way straight into the electronics store, but at the door, Yusuke held his arm out and shook his head, “You don’t want her to run away again, do you? Allow me to go first.”

Akira nodded, then stepped back and let Yusuke venture into the electronics store in his stead. Yusuke wandered the aisles for a while, but eventually discovered Futaba, sitting on the floor in a corner. He approached her, then crouched down to level with her, “Futaba? My, what are you doing hiding in here all by your lonesome?”

“I-Inari?” Futaba looked up, wiping her eyes, then shook her head, “Look, it’s not important. I just made a mistake. Besides, I can handle Akihabara by myself, thanks to Akira, so it’s not like it’s concerning for me to be here alone.”

“Well, you being here alone isn’t what concerns me. It’s that you are sitting on the floor,” Yusuke explained, closing his eyes, “A mistake? Well, I know all about such things. I’ll gladly listen if you wish to talk, and withhold judgment.”

“Thanks…” Futaba nodded, then took a deep breath, “See, I… Overreacted, I guess? Well, I don’t know if that’s the phrase I’m looking for. I was worried about Haru-chan, and expressed that in a sort of weird way. It was an outburst, that’s the word.”

“An outburst?” Yusuke was, even having predicted the situation, surprised to hear this, “That doesn’t sound like you. I’d wager you were embarrassed… Well, what did Haru say?”

“Nothing,” She shrugged, looking away, “I ran away right after because I was _mega_ embarrassed. I bet if I’d stayed though, she would have called me weird or told me to leave her alone or something…”

“Futaba…” Yusuke sighed, shaking his head, “Does that honestly sound like something which Haru would do? Even hearing you conjecture it, I can’t help but feel like you’re describing someone entirely different.”

“I guess it’s paranoia,” Futaba groaned, relaxing a bit to stop being in such a small, ball-like posture, “I mean, when I found out about Kana-chan’s problems, that’s what she did. I know Haru isn’t like that… But how could I have predicted that Kana would? There’s always the possibility that I’ll lose you guys… And where would I be then?”

“If we lost each other, we’d all be adrift in this world with no sense of presence or purpose,” Yusuke answered, “Which is why we need to stay together, and why something so trivial won’t tear us apart. I must say, though… You are _much_ more concerned over Haru’s troubles than I would have expected from you. Perhaps… there is another reason?”

“Another reason? What other reason could I possibly have?” Futaba questioned, crossing her arms with a pout.

“Perhaps your anger at Haru’s situation is not only anger that she is being harmed, but a form of jealousy, perhaps?” Yusuke questioned, looking up at the ceiling, “You do seem concerned to an excessive degree. Perhaps it is… That the nerve of that man, to have Haru but treat her so badly?”

“O-Of course it’s not like that!” Futaba insisted, leaning forward, but then moved back again and pushed her glasses up, “But I mean, if it was, how can I even know for sure? It isn’t like I’ve ever been self-aware of having a crush before…”

“Well, I never quite phrased it like that, so maybe that’s the first indicator, hm?” Yusuke offered with a smirk, and Futaba turned bright red.

“D-Definitely not!” Futaba insisted, “Besides, who are you to tell me that, Inari? It’s not like you’re some expert on this sort of thing.”

“I’d never call myself an expert, but I’d be remiss to say that at this point in my search for beauty in this world, I didn’t understand love,” He lifted a hand to his chin, “Though I suppose that before we met, I was just as clueless… Oh, not to give you the impression that I’ve had a crush on you, merely that it was shortly after we met that I came, through other means, to an understanding of the concept of love.”

“If you’re so knowledgeable, then why don’t you try and explain it to me, huh?” Futaba demanded, giving him a hard stare.

“Of course,” Yusuke nodded, “Love… is less like painting, and more like another form of art. Music. It’s all about timing… And each musical piece is in a different tempo and key signature, just like each person desires a different pace in a relationship. And of course, what’s most crucial in a musical piece is not the notes on which you act, but the rests. The important thing in both love and music is waiting for the proper moment.”

“I see. And like music, it’s something you’re not really good at?” Futaba smirked.

“You seem to have returned to your usual self, to tease me in such a way,” Yusuke shook his head with an exasperated sigh, but did give her a small smile, “But I suppose you’re right. All the advice I can really give is that even in matters of the heart, it seems best to exercise wisdom. Even somebody who does indeed feel the same way about you could turn you down if your timing is wrong…”

“Well yeah, but Inari, seems to me like you’re just pushing this advice so you don’t feel foolish about acting this way yourself,” Futaba continued to tease him, “And waiting for the ‘right timing’ is why you’re still single.”

“Maybe so,” Yusuke shrugged, then stood up, “Well, in any case, this is all irrelevant. We should be going. I ran into Akira on the subway, and he was very worried about you.”

“He was worried…” Futaba stood up and brushed off the front of her pants, sighing, “Well, of course he was, right? It was just because I was so embarrassed right then, that I ran off all on my own. Now that you’ve brought me to my senses, Inari… It was foolish of me to think that it was fine for me to just flee like that.”

“Precisely. It is easy to forget the truth in times of panic,” Yusuke nodded, then turned to lead the way back out of the store, but she reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt.

“Wait, Inari,” He turned to look at her while she said this, “Don’t tell Akira, okay?”

“Don’t tell Akira… What, exactly?” Yusuke questioned, smoothing out his shirt after she let go of it.

“Isn’t that obvious?” She narrowed her eyes, “Don’t tell Akira that you _think_ I like Haru-chan, okay? It’s already unfair enough that you’ve got this idea in your head while I have no clues at all to who you like…”

“Shocking. I would have thought you’d ask me not to tell Haru. So, it’s fine with you if I let her know that I’m quite convinced of your crush?” Yusuke teased, and Futaba shook her head.

“Just don’t tell anybody about your unfounded conclusions, Inari!” She insisted, now walking towards the door outside.

“Very well, I won’t reveal my brilliant theories on your nature,” Yusuke sighed with an exaggerated shrug, then followed Futaba out of the store. Akira was waiting just outside, leaning on the building, and stood up straight when he saw them step out.

“...Sorry, Akira,” Futaba mumbled, standing behind Yusuke while she apologized, “I shouldn’t have yelled like that… And then I made you come all the way out here looking for me. I really made a fool of myself and caused you a lot of trouble.”

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Akira shrugged, and with this statement from him Futaba stepped away from Yusuke, still holding her hands in her pockets sheepishly and refusing to make eye contact with either of them.

\--------------

“Hey, sis?” Makoto started, walking up behind Sae, who was currently doing something or other on her laptop. That laptop… Makoto’s theft of those files had turned out to be meaningless in the end, but maybe now that she was no longer, technically speaking, a Phantom Thief, it was time to try rebuilding the friendship she and Sae had once had, “You were investigating the Phantom Thieves, right? What do you think of that statement they made recently?”

“Hm?” Sae looked up, then closed her laptop and gave a heavy sigh, “Well, I suppose I should be glad that the criminals stopped themselves instead of needing to be stopped, but it does put law enforcement in a difficult position. We were just about to start a real investigation into them, but they’ve backed off before getting the chance to slip up and give us evidence to work with. Criminals clever enough to do that… It terrifies me what may happen if they resurface.”

“And of course…” Makoto turned to look away, rubbing her arm, “Without such a big case going on, I guess you won’t get that promotion you were looking for…”

“Not as soon as I hoped for, anyway,” Sae shook her head, then stood up and turned to Makoto, “That’s not what’s important, though. I’m sure if I continue to work hard, I’ll still get it, just not so soon. It doesn’t take a huge case to prove my worth, if I just succeed at many smaller ones,” She took a few more steps closer, “The important thing is safety. At least with the Phantom Thieves at large, we could make attempts to be on guard against them, and keep track of the Modus Operandi. Now… Who knows what they might do.”

“Well… They only went after criminals before, right?” Makoto questioned, holding her hands in close to her chest, “So I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, if we haven’t done anything wrong. You haven’t, right, Sis?”

“Of course not,” Sae shook her head and turned around again, “I’ve done nothing which would make me a bad person… But it’s frightening nonetheless, to be at the judgment of strangers. Makoto, what would you do if you received a calling card? If those thieves decided to go after you for something like ‘listening to corrupt authorities’? You’ve done nothing wrong, and you’re a good person, but who knows how _they_ might see anything. Things which seem innocent… Or like you are the victim… It’s impossible to predict what the Thieves would make of those. This is why, Makoto, I think it would be wise if for the time being, you stopped staying out late.”

“With all due respect, Sis, I don’t think any of the past targets of the Phantom Thieves ended up in that position because they _stayed out late_ ,” Makoto shook her head, then took a look around, “Though I suppose I have no real reason to say I should be allowed out after dark. I can use the time to study, anyhow, but don’t you think it’s cruel to tell a third year that she can’t accept invitations in the evening from her friends?”

“Maybe you’re right,” Sae groaned and shook her head, still looking away from Makoto, “I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t help worrying. I know after that incident with Kaneshiro that you can take care of yourself, too, so I don’t know what I was thinking,” She finally turned again and looked Makoto in the eyes, “Maybe sometimes I do resent that I need to take care of you, but it also stands to reason that I understand we’re the only family the other has left, right? I couldn’t stand it if I was to hear that you’re not safe.”

“Sis…” Makoto froze where she stood, then a smile broke out across her face as she stepped forward and wrapped her sister in a tight hug, holding onto her as if her life depended on it. Sae gave her an odd look at first, but then hugged her back until Makoto spoke again, “I-I think the same about you, you know… I don’t want anything to happen to you, and if I can protect you in any way, I will!”

“Makoto,” Sae chuckled a bit, “Nothing’s going to happen to me. Nothing will happen to either of us, if I can help it. You don’t have to go worrying about me, though. School should be your number one focus right now. School and… Your friends,” She sighed again, closing her eyes, “Your future is important, so you need to work hard, but a future filled only with work is bound to be a rather miserable one.”

“Thank you,” Makoto nodded, clasping her hands in front of herself, “I’m going to be somebody you can be proud of, Sis. And somebody that Dad would be proud of, too.”

\---------------

“So, Ann-chan,” One of the photographers asked her while she was getting her jacket back on at the end of the shoot, “Did you hear that thing about the Phantom Thieves, how they’re going on hiatus for a while?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah!” Ann nodded as she turned back around to face him, running her hand through one of her pigtails, “I heard about that. Why’re you asking?”

“Well, I was thinking that maybe we could bring you on for an idea we had, for a Phantom Thief themed shoot?” The photographer offered.

“What?” Ann stood in shock for a moment, confused, then raised her eyebrows, “Uhh, why would you wanna do that? Now that they’re on hiatus, I bet their popularity is totally dropping. The fad will probably be over in a month!”

“That’s not the case at all,” The photographer shook his head, putting his camera into its box, “Actually, it seems they got even more popular when they made that announcement. People are saying this proves that they’re true heroes who aren’t just trying to be popular by changing the hearts that they’re asked to.”

“Huh, I mean, it’s not like I’d stop rooting for them, but I sort of thought a lot of the fad was more shallow than that! That’s pretty cool, actually,” Ann nodded with a grin, putting her hands on her hips, “I believe in the justice of the Phantom Thieves, and I’m sure that if they think a hiatus is the best thing they can do right now, I’m sure it really is.”

“There are even rumors going around that the Phantom Thieves were afraid that whoever’s responsible for those breakdowns which caused a bunch of accidents could be pinned on them,” He explained with a quiet laugh, “Though of course, that’s ridiculous, right? Those breakdowns were happening way before the Phantom Thieves sent that first calling card.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how anyone could even connect those things,” Ann laughed along, scratching the back of her head, “Plus like, wasn’t that first calling card so lame that it couldn’t have been made by anyone but total beginners?”

“That’s a good point too! I never really took you for a theorist, Ann-chan,” He shrugged, then waved to her, “Anyway, think about it! You’d be a great fit for our Phantom Thieves themed shoot, so just let anyone on the team know your decision. Seeya!” With this, he turned and ran off, the rest of the crew already gone, leaving Ann alone. She let out the tension she didn’t realize she had turning that conversation in the form of a very long exhale, then adjusted her bag and started to walk back to the station.

While walking back, her phone buzzed, so she pulled it out and checked her messages. It was just one, from Makoto, “Ann, seeing as exams start next week, I’m taking Ryuji to the diner to make him at least get some studying in. Would you like to join us?”

The diner, huh? Well, she was already in Shibuya, so she turned around and made her way over to Central street after shooting back a quick, affirming text to Makoto. She arrived at the diner before them, so she waited outside rather than going to get a table by herself. She saw them approaching from down the street, and started waving, only to falter as she saw that Makoto was pulling Ryuji along by the shoulder, a rather physical view on ‘taking’ him to the diner.

“Ann, you gotta help me! She’s a madwoman!” Ryuji protested as Makoto finally let go of his shoulder right in front of her, “She showed up where I was eating beef bowl, ranting on about how if she didn’t do this then I’d totally flunk my second year! She said that she knew deep in her heart, that left to my own devices all I would do is play video games!”

“Um… Isn’t that true?” Ann asked, grinning, then turned to Makoto, “I, for one, am glad for the offer! I studied pretty well for our exams back in May, but then when it came to July, I accidentally stayed up all night cleaning instead of studying… You know Ryuji, we definitely both need a Queen of the Study Hall to keep us on track!”

“The difference here is that when I procrastinate, it’s a conscious decision! She’s robbing me of my free will!” Ryuji continued to complain, gesturing at Makoto.

“Well, forgive me for wanting to see you graduate. Or do you _not_ want me to come back from college to congratulate you next year? I won’t offer any congratulations if you flunk a grade,” Makoto smirked as she said this, then turned and walked up the stairs into the diner. Ann winked at Ryuji then followed her, and he groaned, but followed as well.

“Okay then,” Makoto settled into a booth, Ann sliding in next to her and Ryuji across, “The first step in studying for exams is, of course, determining what will be on them. Now, Shujin has a habit of reusing the reverse of questions asked during class. For example, if asked the question ‘what do you need to do to solve this optical illusion’, the exam may show the solution and ask what it’s called. What it’s called in this case would, of course, be optical illusion.”

“That’s all well and great, but what if we weren’t paying enough attention in class to know what sort of questions to predict?” Ryuji asked, leaning forward, “And what about equations, huh? The damn math teacher only asks weird questions on the spot about all kinds of weird shit that’s got nothing to do with solving a math problem?”

“Well, that _is_ the reason why you have an upperclassman tutoring you instead of just someone your own age. Akira could have told you about the trend of reusing class pop-questions in the exams. I’m the one who can tell you what sort of curriculum they included in each exam during my second year,” Makoto answered, “Especially when it comes to math problems, which get reused quite often for ease of grading. Of course, you’ll be docked points if you just memorized the answers without being able to go through the work, so I wouldn’t say that giving you the problems ahead of time counts as cheating.”

“Yeah, that’d be a production! Student council president helps troublemaker cheat his way to acceptable grades,” Ryuji chuckled, shaking his head.

“You say that like the fact that Makoto’s friends with troublemakers like us to begin with isn’t a production already,” Ann laughed, leaning on her hand to look over her notes, “Anyway… That math help seems like a good place to start? That’s the subject that Ryuji and I are _both_ really bad at. I mean, I’m at least okay at everything else. I got good grades in middle school!”

“Don’t gotta flaunt it,” Ryuji mumbled, but did turn his gaze to his own notes as well.

“Well, I’ve got a list of problems from my exams last year right here,” Makoto noted as she pulled a notebook out of her bag, “On the first page, since I expected this was where we’d be starting off.”

“Whoa, seriously?” Ann questioned, leaning over to look at the notebook, “Since you figured? Uh, did you make this with us in mind…?”

“Of course,” Makoto nodded, “As soon as we became friends, actually, I put together a study guide. I thought it might be necessary… Don’t worry, it only took me two hours of work, total. Really no interference in my own studies.”

“Jeeze!” Ryuji groaned, “It’s like you’re in a whole different world! Did becoming student council president just make you automatically great at school?”

“Automatically…?” Makoto questioned, then covered her mouth with her hands as she laughed at him, shaking her head, “Sorry, I don’t mean to make fun of you! It’s just that there’s really no such thing at being naturally great at school. Of course, innate intelligence plays a part, but even geniuses who don’t know study tips can fail classes!” She explained, tapping the table as she calmed down from her fit of giggles, “I’ve always done well in school, but that’s because I put in a lot of work! Honestly, if I was naturally good at this, then maybe I’d have some sort of hobby…”

“Huh, I never thought of it that way,” Ann stared at her, “To get perfect grades, and be on the student council, then I can’t imagine that comes with a lot of time for yourself…”

“It’s fine. I always found academic books interesting, and I do know how to cook. Since I only do it at dinnertime, I wouldn’t call it a hobby… But I also always got to bed quite early before we started with our ‘extracurricular activities’. If there was anything I was especially interested in, then I’d have made time for it,” She explained, staring at the menu while Ryuji flipped through her study notebook, “I mean, I _did_ take the time to learn about motorcycles on my own! I guess what it boils down to is that balancing healthy sleeping habits with studies, personal hobbies, clubs, and a social life requires a few of those things to fall to the wayside.”

“I see,” Ann kicked her feet under the table, “But… Uh, does that mean that hanging around with us even now, when you don’t _have_ to anymore, is going to keep you from succeeding?”

“Whoa, Ann’s got a point!” Ryuji nodded, “Or like, if keeping up with all of those things at once would make you super stressed out? Now that the Phantom Thieves are on hiatus, we’re free to go our separate ways when it comes to who we hang out with…”

“Would you really want to do that?” Makoto questioned, and they both looked down at the table, discouraged, “I wouldn’t either. Besides, I already have permission from my sister, too, to focus on studying and socialization. This right now is both! Not to mention, this _is_ second term in my third year… There’s not much left to worry about. Even the teachers lighten the course load for third years so that we can focus on college entrance exams and applications. I’ve been ready for _those_ things since I was a third year in _middle_ school.”

“Yeah… We don’t really have any other group of friends to belong with, huh?” Ann asked as she took the study notebook from Ryuji.

“I mean, we technically have other friends,” Ryuji shrugged, and brought his ankle up to the knee on his other leg, “Technically. But… that’s not like this, you know? They’re more like friendly acquaintances than actual friends. I know that’s how I feel, and I definitely see it with Ann too. I mean, just look at that Hawaii trip! We both had our roommates bail on us in favor of others!”

“That’s true,” Makoto agreed, “I’m much happier now, with you, than I ever was to receive praise from my teachers when I was younger. I believe that Morgana said it best… This is the only place that we can belong.”

“Yeah…” Ryuji nodded, then looked to Makoto, “Your first choice college is pretty far away though, right Makoto? Damn, it won’t be the same once you’ve graduated…”

“It’s a shame,” Makoto shook her head, looking down at her lap now with her eyes closed, “It took us all so long to find somewhere that we fit in, right? And just as soon as we found it, it’s falling apart. I’ll be going off to college, Haru will probably be stuck in the role of a housewife after graduation too… And wasn’t Akira going back to his hometown once his probation was up?”

“Fuck that!” Ryuji hit the table, causing both Ann and Makoto to jump in surprise, “Maybe all the shit you’re saying is true, but we don’t have to let that ruin what we’ve got going here! There’s always the group chat, and I have to think… The fact that we persona users get along so well? It’s gotta be some sort of destiny, right? In that case, we’ll end up together again someday! Don’t get all depressing on me now! We’ve still got time, and it’s not like it’ll be all over when the year’s done, either.”

“You’re right,” Makoto gave a curt nod, then lifted her head, “I’m sorry. I guess I was just letting the negativity get to me.”

“Negativity…” Ann sighed, slouching her shoulders, “I mean, it is a dark time for the Phantom Thieves right now.”

“We’ll get through it, though,” Ryuji emanated a new resolve, “ _Every_ Phantom Thief will.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Hello, everyone,” Futaba started, standing up for once and holding up her phone. She’d asked every member of the Phantom Thieves but Haru to meet her at the hideout today, “I’ve asked you here today to discuss with you something important,” She tapped the phone in her hand, “I’ve created an app which I’m also going to be installing on all of your phones. It’s called Distress Signal. You enter information in this text box, and every other phone with the app bypasses silent mode to play an alarm of medium loudness until you turn it off.”

“What the Hell would we use that for?” Ryuji questioned, kicking the floor with the tip of his shoe.

“Hmm…” Yusuke held one hand to his chin and used the other to hand his phone over to Futaba without hesitation, “Yes, if you had me as Inari in your contacts, and you were just going down the list, then Ryuji wouldn’t know of the incident Saturday night…”

“Incident?” Ann questioned, delivering her phone as well, “You mean that missed call I had super late at night? I thought it was an accident or something. I mean, Futaba never _calls_.”

“It is linked to that. I was calling to try and get somebody’s attention while Akira was briefly in jail,” Futaba explained, sitting back down, “It seems that the problem that was in reference to is something which we couldn’t do anything about, but it did make me realize that if one of us was in serious trouble at a strange hour, we could end up alone without a chance at getting help from our friends. That’s terrifying, really.”

“Wait, that’s seriously your reason?” Ryuji questioned, still holding onto his phone, “Futaba, could you be relapsing??” He turned to Morgana, “Yo, Monamona, is that possible? Can a stolen heart’s distortions come back?”

“Of course not!” Morgana answered, sitting in the middle of the table with his tail twitching in annoyance, “There’s no way that would happen! Persona users can’t even have palaces. After they’ve awoken, anyway,” He lifted a paw to his head, scratching at his ear, “And anyway, Futaba’s twisted desires are _obviously_ gone. That’s not what’s at play here!”

“Maybe I _am_ being paranoid!” Futaba pressed her hands against the table, “But that doesn’t mean I’m completely out of line, right? You’ll thank me if you’re ever the one who needs to use the app…” She pouted and sat down, gathering up the phones she’d been given, “But if it’s really a big problem, fine. Lot of help you’d be if one of us used it anyway…”

“Wh-Hey, I didn’t mean it like that,” Ryuji shook his head, then slid his phone over to Futaba, “Go ahead and give me the app! I was just worried, yeah?” He sighed, scratching the back of his neck, “You keep calling this thing an incident, which makes me think you started having hallucinations again or something… Which I thought we got rid of when we stole your heart.”

“That’s not what it was,” Futaba shook her head, taking his phone to install the app, “There was something happening over at Sugimura’s house, but… I realize now that all any of us could have done at that time was annoy Sugimura. I sent the police evidence of it anonymously, but they haven’t even questioned him,” She explained, “But if something bad was going on that we could help with… we can’t just be isolated like this. I already offered the app to Haru-chan, but she was worried that having it on her phone could just make things worse for her…”

“Sugimura??” Ryuji froze, then leaned forward, “You mean Haru’s shitty Fiance? Why didn’t you lead with that, huh? If I knew that was the reason for this app, I’d have agreed right away. It’s in case shit gets real, right? We can go beat him up!”

“Yes… In the case that ‘shit gets real’ enough that he’ll actually be arrested, instead of filing complaints against us on a whim,” Futaba nodded, rolling her eyes, “I didn’t lead with that because I thought it would seem more useful for me to begin by saying how it could be of help to all of us, if the situation arose.”

“Look,” Ann started, looking between the two of them, “I think it’s a good idea. Anyway, Ryuji, you’re really bad at expressing your concern, huh?”

“What part of me wondering if there could be a relapse of havin’ a palace is a bad way to show concern? That’s real worrying! We all saw what was inside Futaba’s heart, after all, if it was getting that way again then we’d have to make sure it didn’t!” Ryuji protested, and Futaba shrunk back.

“It did kind of sound like you were accusing her,” Makoto noted, crossing her legs, “But Ryuji, we all know you had good intentions behind it.”

“Yeah,” Futaba agreed, “Sorry I got kind of prickly there. I knew it too… I’m just not in the best mood lately,” She pulled her knees up to her chest and sighed.

“Futaba’s listening,” Akira explained, and Yusuke was immediately shocked, but the others didn’t know what that meant. Akira really needed to learn to use some longer sentences from time to time.

“Wait,” Yusuke turned to her, “Really? You’re continuing to listen in? That must be taxing…” He then looked to the others and groaned when he realized they had no idea, “Sugimura’s home is bugged. In a turn of events which seems to be against her better judgment, Futaba continues to tune in to it…”

“Seriously…?” Makoto questioned, then turned to stare at Futaba, “If I was in that position, then I’d get mad at Ryuji with ease too.”

“Yeah, that’s the reason,” Futaba nodded, but then glared at Yusuke, “But Inari’s wrong about it being against my better judgment… If I don’t listen in, then how will we know if something really bad happens to Haru-chan? I have to keep close tabs on Sugimura anytime she’s with him.”

“There has to be a better way, though!” Ann shook her head, furrowing her brow, “That must be some sort of torture for you… I mean, at least shift it onto one of us, who already knows about that kind of thing…”

“It’s not like I was innocent and pure before this started,” Futaba rolled her eyes, “Besides… You have school to deal with, for one thing. And for another… Wouldn’t knowing what’s happening to Haru and being unable to stop it be similar to, but a whole lot worse than what was going on with Shiho…? This was my idea, and I’m the one who’s paranoid… This is just something I have to do. One of those things in life.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that,” Ann sighed, looking away, “It is awful similar to the situation with Shiho, isn’t it? And it is true that we’ve got school…”

“Er, excuse me?” A voice which wasn’t altogether uncommon, but had never before been heard in the attic of Leblanc, drifted up from the bottom of the stairs, “I had Sakura-san turn down the television while drinking my coffee, and couldn’t help but overhear. Mind if I come upstairs? I have an offer to make you.”

Akira pushed his glasses up and looked over at Akechi. Being overheard by the customers was never a concern before, since the television _was_ always kept loud enough that unless they yelled, the group could not be heard downstairs. They’d tested many times, and not once had any of them thought of the possibility that a patron might ask for the television to be turned down or off. At least it was during this conversation, rather than one which revealed their preternatural delinquency. Akira also wondered when Akechi had arrived, since it had to have been after his friends did.

“...You’re Goro Akechi, right?” Makoto questioned, staring at him, wide-eyed, “What are you doing here? Er… Come on up, it’s pretty awkward to talk over the stairs like this.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Akechi walked upstairs, then smiled at the group, “Ah, Leblanc is my favorite coffee place. Nijima-san, is it? Your older sister actually recommended this place to me, and I have to restrain myself from saying ‘thank you’ each time I see her, given it’s so lovely between the atmosphere and the delicious fare.”

“So you eavesdropped on our conversation, huh?” Ryuji crossed his arms, “Learn some manners, you so-called prince…”

“Ah, I apologize!” Akechi held a hand to his chest and shook his head, “I never intended to overhear, but it’s hard to turn off the instinct to do so! I am a detective, after all,” He chuckled a bit, but then dropped the smile from his face as he stepped closer, “And being a detective… I can tell you that as of now, you really wouldn’t have a case against someone with political importance. Based on what I overheard, that is, but for the ease of everyone let’s just assume I understand your situation in full.”

“That confidence is amazing!” Ann noted, staring at him, “You know, I can’t believe that with the way you said that, you’ve been coming here all this time and Akira never let us know! I mean, you _are_ something of a celebrity,” With this, she pouted, “I’m jealous.”

“Oh, it’s nothing so spectacular,” Akechi waved her off, then addressed Futaba, “Anyhow, I would like to volunteer my services, in a way. Admittedly, I have school as well, and work responsibilities… But for at least a portion of the day, I could take over listening in on that house for you. Just listening to somebody else’s bug isn’t illegal, after all, and it does seem you only did it to thwart another, much worse crime. I would like it if you’d allow me to help.”

“Huh…?” Futaba blinked a few times, thinking through what he’d just said, then shrugged, “Um… Are you sure? I really can handle it on my own. And wouldn’t somebody in the public eye get in trouble for listening to something like this? If anyone found out, they’d call you a voyeuristic pervert! Not to mention, it is some really awful stuff...”

“I believe if they truly decided to probe into my private affairs, they’d think of much worse things to call me than that,” Akechi dismissed the worry, smiling once more, “As for the supposed awfulness of what’s to be heard… I’m quite certain that I’ve heard worse. In my line of work, of course. Not as a result of anything else.”

“Well, I guess it’s fine, if you’re sure. Then I could take another nap, aside from when Haru-chan is at school,” Futaba yawned, covering her mouth with both hands, “I’ve never been so exhausted for so many days straight, even when brand new games came out…”

“I’m glad to assist,” Akechi nodded, then paused, “Oh, but how should I inform you if the situation becomes dire? As you phrased it… If ‘shit gets real’?”

“Well, I made this app, but…” Futaba mumbled.

“I would not stand for giving a stranger the ability to know each time one of us is in crisis and needs the others, seeing as we are not yet friends on the same level as the rest of us are,” Yusuke shook his head, and his frown deepened, “And if that man were to remember any of our names and lodge another complaint, it could be problematic for you to have us as contacts in your phone…”

“Well, it’s easy,” Futaba shrugged, “I can just create another version of the app that can only _send_ signals. But you had better not use it to pull a prank on us!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Akechi shook his head, then pulled out his phone and handed it to Futaba, “As long as you don’t snoop around in my pictures while you’re installing the app, of course!”

“I wouldn’t dream either. If you’re the type of person to volunteer for this kind of work,” She shook her head, narrowing her eyes, “Then I don’t want to know what sort of things you’ve saved to your phone!” With that, she returned it to him, “I’m jk, of course. Thanks for your help.”

“Thank you for _allowing_ me to help you,” Akechi nodded, then turned towards the stairs, “I know it was quite odd of me to butt in, but when I heard what was going on, well… I cannot just sit by and allow people like that to do as they please with no comeuppance. Even if it takes a long time, and a lot of pain to achieve some sort of payback, it nontheless must be achieved.

“Wow, you do have a strong sense of justice,” Makoto nodded as she watched him go, then turned to her friends again, “Well, that’s really different from how he talked about the Phantom Thieves on TV, isn’t it? About them, he said that they’re interfering with the police and should be punished under the law, but the way he talked about Sugimura was different…”

“Now that you mention it,” Ryuji clicked his tongue, leaning back and turning his gaze to the ceiling, “Did we just see his true colors for a moment there? Maybe he’s more similar to us than we thought, right? Seems like he hates shitty adults too, but I guess he’s just against vigilante action against them…”

“That definitely was a more real version of him!” Morgana nodded, throwing his gaze towards the stairs again, “And good thinking, Yusuke, not to get _too_ involved all at once. We don’t necessarily know Akechi-kun’s motives, after all! It should be fine to accept his help when it comes to this, but we do have to consider that he probably wouldn’t hesitate to turn us in if he realized who we were, even with the Phantom Thieves on hiatus. That is, assuming there’s some genuine piece of him behind the way he acts on TV!”

“Well,” Ann stretched her arms out above her head, “You know, when we attended his interview it totally seemed like he was speaking from the heart! But also…” She hesitated, “I dunno. Maybe he _was_ lying after all. Now that I think about it, it was more like he believed wholeheartedly in the fact that his words would achieve whatever his goal is…”

“What the Hell is that supposed to mean!?” Ryuji questioned.

“I understand what Ann means,” Makoto nodded, folding her hands in her lap with a soft smirk, “Yes, she’s observed something which I’ve seen in my sister quite often. It’s a lie in all technical terms, but it certainly seems sincere due to a _sincere belief_ that it will accomplish what you need. It’s an impressive tactic for her to have as a prosecutor, so perhaps Akechi-kun picked it up from her? They have worked together, after all.”

“But… In saying that he hopes the Phantom Thieves are punished under the law, what could be the secret truth, and what goal could he have been sincerely reaching for?” Yusuke asked, holding a hand to his forehead, “Such a convoluted derivative of sincerity… That is a man who I could not paint. Truth buried under lies which seem truthful, and lead to other truths… All I can envision instead of his face is a dark mass…”

“That’s pretty dramatic, Inari. He is helping us. The least you could do is wait till we’ve cut ties to call him a monster of art,” Futaba shook her head in disapproval.

“Anyway,” Morgana interrupted, “Let’s just assume the best for now! The truth was that Akechi was glad the Phantom Thieves were stealing hearts, but the sincere lie was for the sake of maintaining his image as a true detective of the law.”

“Yes, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” Makoto nodded, then took a look around the table, “In any case… We should put all these things out of our heads for now. Exams are coming up, after all, and if we’re trying to return to living honest student lives, focusing on those is the first step.”

“I’ll focus on Haru-chan,” Futaba agreed, “It’s not something the rest of you have to worry about.”

\--------------------

“Oh, best score in your grade,” Makoto noted, looking over Akira’s shoulder, “That’s impressive! And…” She looked further along the paper, “Well, at least Ann and Ryuji _passed_...”

“What are you doing here?” Akira questioned, turning around to see her.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I came to see if you were actually focusing on the exams like I told you to,” She explained, tucking her hair back behind her ear, then meeting his eyes with a sad look, “Truth is, Ann’s average score and Ryuji’s okay one, I really am proud of those two for that much… But I’m worried, too. Haru’s test scores were always above average, and she made it into the top ten last term. This term, though, she did worse than Ryuji…”

“...Good morning, Mako-chan,” Haru spoke up from behind her, and she flushed red as she turned around, about to come up with an excuse for herself when Haru continued, “Yes, that’s right, my scores… Were awful in every subject,” She sighed, holding her arms crossed with her hands on her shoulders, “It’s okay, though, I only ever did so well before because I had nothing better to do than study… I just didn’t have the time for these exams… And I wasn’t going to college a-anyway,” She shrugged as she explained, “But thank you for your concern…”

“Haru…” Makoto stared at her, then shook her head, “This goes beyond concern for your grades. We’re all concerned for your well-being.”

“I-I told you, it’s fine!” Haru insisted, then turned away, “Well, I’ll see you some other time!” With this, she took off, power-walking away from them. Makoto sighed as she watched her go, then turned back to Akira with exhausted concern still showing in her face.

“Let her be in denial,” Akira told Makoto, shaking his head, and she bit her lip before responding.

“I know that it’s probably better for her mental state right now if she keeps saying it’s not so bad, but…” Makoto squeezed her eyes shut, “Because I’m from a family of law enforcement, I know all sorts of worst case scenarios… And I have to be afraid if she might get the opportunity to escape, but not take it because she’s convinced herself that this is fine…”

“Haru is strong,” Akira gave his response to this, and it carried more meaning than the words alone. Haru was in denial, but it was obviously a conscious decision to stay that way, to convince herself that her situation wasn’t dire. Thus, Akira was sure that as soon as she could, she would stop lying to herself and face the truth; but only once she could console herself with the fact that it was over. It was evident in the way she spoke; she said it was nothing, that it was no big deal, but she also wasn’t making excuses for Sugimura or anything like that. She still hated him as much as ever, she was just lessening the impact of his actions as an abstract concept, separate from him.

“I know,” Makoto sighed, composing herself again, then offered him a smile, “I can’t help worrying, even though I know that Futaba or Akechi will let us know if she ends up in some real physical danger. Do you think she’ll be okay when this is all over?”

“Eventually,” Was all he could say with confidence.

\------

“Kitagawa-san,” Yusuke found his name spoken as he was packing up his books after class, then looked up to see an unfamiliar girl standing there. She was quite a beauty, staring at him from where she stood, “I’m not sure if we’ve spoken before, but I’m sure that we know of each other. I’m Hifumi Togo.”

“Oh, Togo-san,” Yusuke nodded, standing up from his desk, “Yes, I do know of you. I’d heard you were beautiful, but I must say, my mental image of you was that of a modern beauty, given your popularity. I had no idea there were still a number of people who preferred the Yamato Nadeshiko image.”

“Yamato Nadeshiko?” Hifumi asked, then giggled, lifting a hand to cover her mouth, “I’m flattered. Usually if people are going to refer to me as any archetype, it’s Chuunibyou.”

“Chuunibyou?” Yusuke questioned, wide-eyed, “But you haven’t said anything at all which would lead me to that conclusion whatsoever…”

“Well, it’s usually only obvious during Shogi matches. See, I have this awful habit of taking on the personage of a queen commanding soldiers when I play,” She explained, shrugging, “In any case, that’s not why I came to find you. Would you like to go somewhere to have a conversation with me?”

“Hm? Well, I had no plans today, so I see no reason not to,” Yusuke nodded, “Where shall we go?”

“How about Inokashira Park?” Hifumi offered, holding her bookbag behind herself with both hands now, “It’s quite nice there, and quiet too. We won’t be interrupted.”

“Interrupted?” Yusuke questioned, then started to lead the way out of the classroom, “The way you say that sounds as if you have something important to speak with me about, but I can’t imagine what that could be, seeing as we’ve only just met…”

“You’ll just have to accompany me and find out,” Hifumi shrugged, striding out in front of him now and making her way towards the subway, assured without looking that Yusuke was indeed following her. Once arriving at the park, she sat down atop the railing by the pond and sighed, then looked to him as he sat down next to her, “Here we are. We won’t be interrupted or overheard in a place like this. Anyone would assume we’re here on a date…”

“Yes,” Yusuke nodded, “I went out in a boat out on the pond once and made that very folly, of assuming that a pair were a couple. As it turned out, they were siblings, and I was left sincerely hoping that the supposed chemistry I’d witnessed between them really was but a figment of my imagination…”

“I heard about that,” Hifumi nodded, and Yusuke pressed a hand to his chest, taken aback, “Or, well, I heard the other part of the story. How those siblings then wondered if you and Akira-kun might be a couple as well. It really was a funny story!”

“A funny story? Ah, Togo-san, you know Akira?” Yusuke questioned, leaning towards her.

“Yes, I’m his shogi teacher,” Hifumi explained, then looked up at the sky, “And of course, I’ve come to know his secret… It was only in passing that he’s mentioned you, but I could tell that you’re close. So, I’m sure that you know his secret too. So I was wondering, Kitagawa-san… Are you a Phantom Thief?”

“W-What are you saying?” Yusuke questioned, glaring away from her, “Of course I’m not involved in such activities. What could possibly lead you to that conclusion? It seems entirely not linked to the fact that I am friends with Akira.”

“Hmm…” Hifumi mumbled, looking at him again, “In shogi, an important tactic is being able to tell if somebody is bluffing. I think that you’re lying… Besides, I can back up my theory. I’m of the belief that, from the stories I’ve heard… Akira-kun would not be as close with somebody as he is with you unless they were a teammate, or at least knew his secret. It’s because of your connection to Madarame that I assumed it would be the former.”

“Urgh…” Yusuke lifted a hand to his forehead as he groaned, “Very well, then, you are correct. What does it matter, though? Did you just want to prove the logic you’ve honed in playing shogi, or do you intend to turn me in? Besides, Akira is no closer with me than he is you, or any other friends of his.”

“That’s not the impression I got at all,” Hifumi shook her head, then chuckled a bit, “I mean, for him to bring up a story about you, if you think about his habit of one-liners? I don’t think he’s told anyone else about our more humorous shogi matches, for example. So that’s the bond between thieves… It really is amazing. I wonder if those sort of bonds could apply to a shogi match…” She stopped herself, suddenly standing up, “Not that I’m implying that I’d like to become a Phantom Thief, of course. Shogi is what I love doing, and I’m very pleased in my current balance of time for playing and other responsibilities. I just thought I should confirm that the way he spoke of you was that of a teammate,” She smirked, “Otherwise, I may have made the mistake of thinking you were a couple too.”

“I understand,” Yusuke nodded, and stood as well, “Say, Togo-san. Would you mind if I sat in on one of your matches and perhaps painted you? I feel such an image may capture a perfect resonance of logic and intelligence. You were so observant in an everyday situation just now, so I can only imagine you’re just the same when commanding your troops on the game board.”

“That would be the first time somebody’s focused on my actual skill rather than my looks, in a request like that. Though usually, it’s photography rather than painting… I’d be glad to,” Hifumi nodded, lifting a hand to her chin, “In exchange for allowing you to capture the image of Queen Togo, I’d love if I could receive an invite the next time your work is featured in a gallery.”

“Of course,” Yusuke nodded, then crossed his arms, “But might I recommend… If in the future you feel you have determined the identity of a Phantom Thief, do not go implicating Akira so readily.”

“Right…” Hifumi sighed, rubbing her arm sheepishly, “I’ll keep that in mind. Though, I doubt any of the others go to our school, so I don’t think that will be an issue.”

\-----------------

“What in the world…?” Sojiro mumbled, staring at the television. He finished setting down the coffee he’d made Akira to have with breakfast and turned his attention to it. Akira looked as well while Sojiro commented again, “I knew that guy was going to start branching into politics, but that seems like a seriously rash, bad idea…” With this Akira realized that Okumura was on the news program, announcing… something. He’d missed it, but he was sure it would be mentioned again.

“Kunikazu Okumura Announces plan to independently run for Prime Minister!” The news ticker repeated, and Akira blinked as he stared at it. So that was what Chihaya meant. There would be the normal running parties, the split party he’d heard Masayoshi Shido would be running for, and now… Okumura. It was bizarre for somebody to go straight to running for Prime Minister instead of becoming a representative or a member of the Diet first, or at _least_ some other small political position, but here Okumura was going straight from business tycoon to big league politician. Akira remembered something like this turning out rather horribly in another country; but Chihaya did say that after the election, Okumura would come to a change of heart on his own, so Akira wouldn’t worry too much.

“From the food industry to politics… Well, he’s definitely going to lose that election,” Sojiro shook his head with a soft chuckle, crossing his arms, “You see that, Akira? I mean, on this scale, that would be like if I decided to run for a town office. Well, I have worked with the government before, so that’d still be a smoother transition than this guy’s trying for. At least get your foot in the door of politics before throwing it wide open.”

“Let’s wait and see,” Akira shrugged, turning back to his curry and coffee. He had a full day of school ahead of him, after all. He couldn’t worry about politics that he wasn’t even able to vote in just yet!

In any case, he trusted in what Chihaya told him. Trusting in her was all he could do right now, continuing to believe was the only way he could keep from feeling regret over not changing Okumura’s heart. If Chihaya was somehow wrong, then it could have been for nothing that Haru was enduring so much.

\----------------------

_“Damn, Haru. Late again?”_

_“I-I told you, it’s just for an hour after school, I have plants to tend to… I’m not going to give up on my hobbies just because I’m living with you now…”_

_“What did you say?”_

_“I-I think it needs to be clear that… I did have a life before moving in, and I won’t discard that!”_

_“Good grief. This again? Come on, Haru. Just lighten up already, will you? I’ve already proven how fun I can be, if you just stop being such a crying bitch about it…”_

_“I-I’ll lighten up when you stop getting mad at me for having a life outside of you! I’m going to keep gardening, no matter what you say!”_

_“Why are you saying that like it’s some sort of admirable decision? What do you expect me to think when you’re staying out so long after you’re done at school? I have no proof you’re actually ‘gardening’ and not out cheating on me! That’s why you’re not into me, right? You’re off going after some other dude?”_

_“N-No! That’s not it at all!”_

_“You damn liar!”_

_“If I’m not into you, then it’s because you’re a terrible person, not because I like somebody else!”_

_“What did you say to me!?”_

_“Y-You make me cry all the time! You’re mean and I hate you, and I thought maybe you’d be nicer once I moved in, but you’re not! Maybe I’d have ended up loving you if you just showed me a little bit of kindness… But you’re treating me like some person that I’m not! Like somebody who’s sneaky and conniving and not a good person!”_

_“I’m treating you like any other girl…”_

_“You can’t just assume that I’m like other-”_

_“Haru.”_

_“Sugimura…”_

_“You’re just the same as far as I’m concerned. You’re useless except for a pretty face and nice body! If it weren’t for the fact you’d run off on me without legal ties, you wouldn’t be my pick of a wife, you’d just be one of many lovers! The ideal wife is much more obedient than you… I’m doing you **and** your father a favor here.”_

_“I-It’s not that much to ask that you just be a little nicer… My friends might do something to you…”_

_“What can they do? Call the police? I’ll just get them arrested again if they try anything else. For somebody who grew up in the scene of the upper class, you really have no clue how the world works, poor girl…”_

_“A-Ah…”_

_“Well, come on then. All is forgiven, baby… That is, assuming that I find your apology acceptable. Come on and make me feel good.”_

_“...I… I just… I’m sorry?”_

_“You knew what I meant! Get over here, or I’ll make you! It’s your own fault your friends are worrying, if you just listened then you wouldn’t be showing up to school with bruises! Get your ass over here now. I keep putting up with your shit, but it’d be so easy to just get rid of you… Even then, I bet the police would take my side. You were just such an obnoxious girl and I panicked at the thought of needing to actually **marry** you, right? Well, let’s find out if you can satisfy me, and see how I feel then.” _

Futaba had heard enough. She activated the distress signal app. This time, seeing as it was the afternoon, she was hanging out at Leblanc, and immediately heard the alarm going off in Akira’s phone upstairs. She stood up and waited for him to come downstairs, then managed to keep her voice level as she told Sojiro they were going out, only running to the subway station alongside Akira once they were outside. While on the train, she looked up at him, eyes wide, “Somebody will get there in time, right?”

“Haru will be okay,” Akira nodded to her, reassuring even if he wasn’t sure of it himself. Maybe since it was the afternoon, it was easier to respond to the distress call. He came to grips with this fact after the next necessary transfers, when stepping off the train at the station closest to Sugimura’s home he saw all of the others also getting off that train, or the one which came from the other direction. Convenient that the timetables worked out that way.

Without another word, all of them locked eyes and took off out of the station toward Sugimura’s house. Ryuji ended up in front thanks to his revitalized running practice, and practically kicked the door down. The living room was empty, but Futaba knew which room they’d been in; the sitting room upstairs, because rich people’s houses were ridiculous. She pushed her way past Ryuji to lead the way to that room, but Ann moved to be the first one to open that door and look inside. 

Haru was in the corner of the room, clothes on but in disarray. Her hair was a mess, and the scattered injuries she’d displayed earlier had multiplied by quite a large factor. She was frozen in shock, staring at an archway to another room. Ann stepped into the room and followed Haru’s line of sight, the others doing the same, still silent. Sugimura was right through the doorway, retrieving his belt from the floor. His face was twisted up, and he was clearly focused only on Haru, glaring at her even as he moved, unaware that others had entered the house at all. He took two steps toward her, holding each end of the belt as though he intended to strangle her with it-

His eyes rolled back in his head.

Black fluid fell from his tear ducts and his mouth, he stumbled through the room, then missed his attempt to grab the railing of the other set of stairs, the ones that the Phantom Thieves hadn’t used, and toppled down them to the bottom. His head split open, but he didn’t bleed, instead oozing with that same inexplicable fluid. Still, nobody said anything. Ryuji ran over and picked Haru up, and everyone went back outside.

“Let’s get out of here,” Akira was the one who finally spoke again while they stood outside Sugimura’s house, each one of them in shock, “Leave the city tonight… Go stargazing.”

Nobody was against the idea.

\-----------------------------------

“Shido-san,” Akechi bowed, then stood up straight, shoulders squared, “I’ve successfully achieved my plan of sabotaging Kunikazu Okumura’s strongest chance in the political world. Without the endorsement of the marriage with that family, it seems he wouldn’t stand a chance at even a Diet seat, let alone the position he’s running for. In addition, when it comes to light that Sugimura was abusing the girl… That family won’t be your rival anymore, either, and the breakdown will pass for a copycat of the Phantom Thieves.”

“I see,” Shido answered with a curt nod.

“Forgive me for saying such a thing of arrogance, but I do believe I outdid myself this time.”

“You know what you have to do if you want me to say you did a good job.”


	5. Chapter 5

By the time that the Phantom Thieves got far enough away from the city for the light pollution to reduce in an amount which would let them see the stars more clearly, it was getting dark. Perfect timing, as it worked out, which was part of the reason why _this_ was the distraction which Akira recommended. For at least a little while, it seemed best that everyone just keep quiet and find a way to calm down after the bizarre situation they’d all just been made to witness; especially Haru, with the shock she’d been in even before the sudden incident.

By the time they reached the hill Akira led them to, where they lay down, the travel had been enough to collect their bearings; still, nobody spoke for a good ten minutes after arriving, until Makoto finally asked the question on everybody’s mind, “Did we just witness… A mental shutdown?”

“I think so,” Ann nodded with a heavy sigh, holding her hands to her chest as she looked up at the half moon, “And there wasn’t anyone else there… So I guess it must be linked to the criminal using the metaverse, huh? The same person…”

“Do you think that we’ll be blamed for it…?” Haru spoke up, her voice faint and afraid, “Or maybe just me? They might think I pushed him down the stairs, since I… lived there.”

“We won’t,” Morgana assured her, padding over to where she lay. He curled up by her, and she reached out to pet him, “They’ll say it’s a copycat, like our statement said. It doesn’t match our M.O. at all, so there’s no connection to be made. And there’s no way they’d ever accuse you, Haru-chan! And I mean, even if they did…” He sighed, “There’s no reason to keep pretending he’s not a criminal now that he’s dead, right? They wouldn’t blame you…”

Haru didn’t have any response to this. After enough time to be sure she had no intention of replying, Yusuke continued the conversation.

“The timing of it…” He conjectured, “It was too convenient. Likewise with the Shujin principal… Perhaps this metaverse using criminal can set it up so that certain situations trigger the mental shutdown. When the principal decided to go to the police, for example. Or… when Sugimura seemed about to kill Haru.”

“So the criminal is somebody who knew that Haru was being abused?” Ryuji questioned, then sat up and grimaced, “Hate to say it, but that makes the pool pretty small…”

“Not really,” Haru spoke again, turning onto her side and pulling her body in close to herself, “Sugimura’s nature has never been a secret. Just think of the way we saw him in my father’s cognition, before we decided not to go through with the theft of his heart… Even father knew that Sugimura only intended to use me. There are plenty of people who’d make the connection.”

“It’s entirely possible that if the criminal is setting up mental shutdowns in conjunction with certain situations, then everyone’s already been set up to have one if they fulfill those conditions. It could really be anybody, with that in mind,” Morgana explained, flicking his tail, “Except for us, of course. It seems to be an assassination of the person’s shadow which causes this, based on what I know about palaces. The theft of all desires, not just twisted ones… So if somebody could set this assassination up to occur at a certain time, then for all we know, most of the world has such things in place as a sort of ‘safety net’ if they start being particularly bad. Of course, since stealing all desires leads to death in all sorts of ways… I can’t stand to think somebody’s using the metaverse for this!”

“I know we were already trying to investigate, but…” Makoto sighed, rubbing her eyelids, “Can we really find anything out in the real world like this? And… At this point, is it really any of our business? We know that the truth will be revealed by Okumura, according to Akira’s friend.”

“I mean…” Futaba spoke up, biting her bottom lip, “Why should we bother trying, in that case? This criminal will be caught eventually, right? And in this case, they ended up helping Haru… We were there, so it’s not like we would have let her get hurt, but what if we hadn’t been? In that case, it’s for the better that he ended up having a mental shutdown…”

“F-Futaba!” Ann sat up, staring at her, “You can’t just say things like that!”

“She’s right, though,” Haru mumbled, shaking her head, “If you’d listened to me, and stopped worrying so much… And the mental shutdown didn’t happen, he would have killed me. I’m sure of it,” She turned over onto her back again, getting choked up as she continued, “And if we had changed his heart… That’s what would have happened to my father, isn’t it?”

“Probably, since they were planning to pin the mental shutdowns on us…” Makoto sighed, then sat up as well, looking around at everyone before back to Haru, “Haru, are you okay?”

“Um…” She stammered, then sighed and relented, her voice still shaky, “I’ll stop lying now. I’m not okay, not really… At all. I know I’ll be okay, though, someday. After all, I have all of you. You’re not _just_ my first friends, you’re the best ones that I could ever ask for. It’s thanks to you that I was able to hold on. Maybe it was for the sake of my father, but it’s you who gave me the strength to handle it…”

“We’ll always be here for you, Haru,” Morgana explained, “It’s the only place we all belong. And that place just wouldn’t be the same without everyone! We all really love you, Haru.”

“And that’s real,” Haru nodded, “I know.”

\-----------------

Haru decided that the best course of action, at least for now, was not to go to her father’s house. Just as Yusuke had done during his incredibly brief ‘the dorms are too loud for art to flourish’ phase, Haru found herself spending the night at Leblanc, sleeping on Akira’s couch. With permission from Sojiro, of course, who’d waited up for the kids despite being alerted via text that they’d be home late.

The next day was a Sunday, so upon waking up, Haru went downstairs to speak with Sojiro, holding her hands in front of herself, “Er, Sakura-san?”

“Just call me Sojiro, or Boss. Everyone else does,” Sojiro chuckled, shaking his head, “Being referred to so respectfully is unnerving at this point… So what do you need, kid?”

“Actually, I was wondering,” Haru fidgeted, looking away, “I’m not sure what to do with myself right now, but I do know that I’m interested in coffee, and since I know you… Is there any way that you’d be willing to take on an apprentice?”

“An apprentice?” Sojiro questioned, giving her an odd look, “That’s a weird thing to ask. You do know that I practically forced Akira to learn how to make these recipes? If this place goes out of business, _somebody_ else has to make the world’s best curry. Oh, and the coffee too, of course. All the better if I can teach multiple people…”

“Well, if you’d teach me, I’d really love to learn,” Haru looked back to him with a soft smile, tucking her hair back behind her ear, “Though I understand it’s a lot to ask, since I’m already imposing on you.”

“How did you manage to misinterpret what I just said? Consider taking these lessons to be a way of paying me back for the lodging. Come on behind the counter and we can get started right away,” Sojiro waved her over, but then paused and narrowed his eyes, “Though… I’m not an oblivious old man, you know. The details of your situation may escape me, but I do know the general gist of what you’d been dealing with before last night. Are you sure you don’t want to just spend some time relaxing first?”

“Absolutely,” Haru shook her head, then met his eyes with determination evident under her soft features, “Sugimura almost killed me because I told him I wouldn’t just put my life on hold because of him. Even though I hate him, I still feel… It would be a disservice if I went back on my word now. To him and to myself.”

“That’s surely what he wouldn’t have wanted,” Sojiro laughed a bit again, then grabbed the apron he’d been having Akira use, “I hope you don’t mind the apron being a bit big on you. So, by following through on your interest in coffee the day after your fortunate escape, you’re going to prove that he has no power over you?”

“E-Exactly!” Haru took the apron, watching him, “How could you tell I was thinking that way? I guess it sounds weird to say that I hope… His spirit can know through my actions that it was never him who really had control. I can’t tell you why, but… If I hadn’t agreed to go with him, then it would have turned out even worse for a lot of people. I’m sure that things will get better naturally, at this point.”

“Ah, naturally?” Sojiro questioned, then blinked slowly, “Oh, I see. You were rooting for the Phantom Thieves to steal your father’s heart, right?”

“Rooting for?” Haru questioned, tilting her head to the side.

“Just kidding,” He raised a hand in the air and sighed, “Well, I suspected for a while that those thieves could have something to do with Futaba’s sudden recovery, and I did know her mother. Cognitive Psience… I never understood the stuff, but at least knowing it’s real gives me an idea of what the deal is when it comes to the Phantom Thieves. Maybe if I’d been given a sudden awakening to the idea, like finding Futaba’s calling card, it would be more jarring, but it was only a matter of time until I realized just what you kids were up to.”

“What!?” Haru’s jaw dropped, but then she just giggled, lifting a hand to her mouth, “Well, I guess you’d find out sooner or later… Have you told Akira and Futaba that you know?”

“Not yet,” He shook his head, resting both hands on his hips, “Thinking I’ll give them a little scare, for not letting me in on it. Figured you could do without any accusations right now, though. So you determined that changing your father’s heart could spell doom, huh? That ranking system I kept hearing about always sounded risky. That was a brave thing to do, you know. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out for the sake of others. I’ve known a lot of people like that in my day, and not one of them is any less impressive than the last.”

“You’re one of those people too,” Haru noted, and he shook his head in response.

“No… I wouldn’t say that. I’m referring to people who give up their own happiness for other people, and I’ve never done that. I’m quite glad to help others where I can, and I’ve never really suffered for it if I’m honest. Maybe I’m prickly about it, sure, but it isn’t as if opening my doors to those who need it has ever brought me harm. Even when I had to pay off Futaba’s uncle to get custody of her, it didn’t set me back in any real way. Besides, even if it did, that was for my own happiness too. I even wonder from time to time if Futaba would be better off somewhere else, and I’m just acting selfishly...”

“That doesn’t seem to be the case at _all_ ,” Haru shook her head, “I’m very certain that Futaba-chan wouldn’t prefer to be anywhere but here with you… And well, maybe it isn’t bravery to do the things you do, but if isn’t, then it’s kindness. B-Besides, what I did was for my own happiness. I may have suffered for it, but I’d rather the problems I did have than need to cope with my father’s death. And as I reassured the others… There’s no guarantee that all this wouldn’t have happened on top of all the bad things which would occur if we decided to change his heart after all…”

“I see,” Sojiro nodded, then pulled out a bag of coffee beans, “You’re a good person, Haru. I’ll be glad to pass the pseudo-secrets of Leblanc on to you. Maybe if this place manages to stay afloat long enough I decide to retire… Well, that’s just me being silly. Let’s get to it.”

-

When Akira woke up, it was nearly noon, which was unusual. It wasn’t like him to sleep in so late, though he supposed it made sense when he remembered just how late he’d been up the previous night, seeing as he’d gone stargazing with his friends in order to distance everyone from the tragic mishap the night presented. It was quick thinking on his part, a fact which he was proud of. Getting everyone far away from the crime scene both physically and emotionally was by far the most important thing to do at the time. His decision last night was the first reassurement since stealing Futaba’s heart that he was a fitting leader for the group.

Well, not that he made a hobby of doubting himself, especially since awakening to the power of his persona, but there hadn’t been any solid boost to his ego since then. Deciding in that moment that everybody needed distance was proof to him that even when returning to an attempt at living honestly, he maintained the leadership abilities he’d had when the Phantom Thieves were still active.

“Joker! You finally woke up!” Morgana greeted him, wandering over from the other side of the attic room to stand at his feet, “Your sleeping schedule must be really particular, to get thrown off this much by a few extra hours up at night,” Rather than look down at Morgana, Akira turned to the couch, at which point Morgana hopped up to sit next to him on the bed, “Haru woke up a while ago. She asked the chief if he’d teach her to make coffee, and as far as I can tell she’s a natural! Already helping out with the two customers we’ve got this morning.”

“Two customers?” Akira questioned as he stood up, grabbing his glasses from the windowsill, “That nice old couple?”

“Nah,” Morgana hopped onto the floor again, looking back to Akira, “That guy who’s always commenting on politics when he comes in and says weird things about being better than everyone is here. So is Akechi-kun. That’s funny, isn’t it? Both those regulars have a pretty big ego. I hope they don’t clash with each other.”

So Akechi was here… Given what happened last night, Akira wasn’t sure that speaking to Akechi was a good idea at the moment. It wasn’t like he had a choice, though. There would be a problem with Sojiro if he decided to just hole himself up in his room playing games or watching something he’d rented in Shibuya; for similar reasons that he didn’t want to see Akechi. Being involved in something like this outside of the metaverse brought up a whole host of complications, but he did at least have to assure Sojiro that last night’s late activity was in fact stargazing rather than some form of delinquency. Especially if it turned out the police wanted to question him regarding the sudden death of Sugimura.

After changing into more normal clothing, Akira wandered downstairs, and saw that Sojiro was already letting Haru use the coffee drip on her first day of apprenticeship. This was proof enough for him, that Morgana was telling the truth about her proficiency at the job. He waved to her as soon as she looked up from the drip.

“Oh! Good morning, Akira,” Haru greeted him, then clasped her hands in front of her chest, “Sojiro-san has been teaching me about working here. It turns out, I knew more about coffee already than I thought I did! So, how did you sleep? Would you like a cup?”

“Morning, good, yes please,” Akira nodded to her, then sat down in the seat closest to the stairs. Akechi was two seats over, and the other regular was eating curry in the same booth as always. Somehow, Haru fit into the scene just as well as the regular customers and Sojiro did. Leblanc was a fitting environment for her, just as soft and warm as she was.

“Great!” Haru nodded, then poured him a cup and handed it to him without cream or sugar. She’d at least seen him with coffee often enough to know that, like her, he preferred it black in order to pick up more on the actual flavors. Well, excluding canned coffee, which he would rather have light due to the fact that most of them were pretty boring on their own, “So… You know, I’m holding up alright for now. I decided the best thing to do was to keep trying my best in everything that I want to do and that I’m good at. I won’t let anything continue to hold me back… Oh, and talking to Boss really helped me be confident in this decision, too. You’ve got a great guardian, you know.”

“Don’t go singing my praises like that, I have a reputation to uphold,” Sojiro teased, rolling his eyes, then turned to address Akira, “I can assume you were telling the truth about why you were out late last night thanks to this friend of yours, you know. If it were just you, Futaba, and those first two friends you made when you moved here, I’d be inclined to doubt it. Futaba’s great, but she’s no angel. Same goes for you.”

“Understood,” Akira nodded, then glanced up to look at the television.

“Despite the recent announcement by Kunikazu Okumura that he will be running for Prime Minister, we have received no further word on his campaign plan, and not so much as a miniature speech. However, opposing candidate Masayoshi Shido has already issued a statement in response to this news. We’ll be airing it in just a moment.”

“Ah…” Akechi spoke up, “Sakura-san? Could you perhaps lower the volume for me again? These political speeches always sound more fake than a rehearsed interrogation…”

“Huh? Sure, no problem,” Sojiro nodded, grabbing the remote, but was interrupted by the other regular seated at the booth.

“Hey, I wanted to see that,” He frowned, then turned to Akechi, “Kids these days… They just lowered the legal voting age from twenty to eighteen, and they still aren’t concerned with the leaders of the future… Even when a candidate promises to make the country better for the children. A real man of intellect follows all facets of politics whenever possible.”

“Can’t you just look it up online on your own time?” Akechi questioned, raising a hand to his forehead and looking away, exasperated, “I _know_ quite a bit about politics. I just find listening to the speeches directly to be a rather painful experience, given my background in police work. I’d rather read them in an objective manner, without all the vocal cues which mean different things in public speaking than they do during interrogations.”

“Well, once you’re an adult you’ll realize that nobody is going to cater to your particular sensibilities,” The snobby customer turned his nose up, “Sakura-san, leave the television as is. You can’t humor children who believe they’re entitled to whatever they ask for.”

“Right, of course. And you’re not the one who thinks you’re entitled to serving your own _interests_ over a kid’s sensibilities? If you’re rooting for this Shido guy, don’t you think that you should be more concerned with the message he’s telling you in his speech? Children _are_ the future, so I think we should be kind to them,” Sojiro explained, then waved an arm towards the regular, “You’ve sworn you’d never come back here before, but here you are. Feel free to leave if you disagree with me.”

“Ugh… Thanks for the coffee. I’ll come back sometime when you’re not so overrun with brats,” The snobby regular stood up, leaving the exact change he owed and not one yen more on the table before leaving the building. Akechi gave Sojiro a nervous grimace, but Sojiro switched off the television then gave a slight, reassuring smirk.

“I can’t believe that man. Entitlement… There’s entitlement, and then there’s needs. How could he ever know if you needed something for personal reasons?” Haru mumbled, wandering over to where Akechi was, “It isn’t as if you’d just say the real reason you don’t want to hear that speech to a complete stranger, after all…”

“The real reason…” Akechi mumbled, leaning on his hand, then laughed a bit, “Well, I guess if I stop to think about it, then it really is just an unreasonable sensibility. Or should I say, it makes very little sense for me to care at this point in my life. Well, moving on from that, let’s talk about what happened at Sugimura’s house, Okumura-san. You too, Kurusu-kun!”

“Huh? You know about that?” Haru questioned, taking an involuntary small step backward.

“Yes, thanks to irrefutable proof that the police force was turning a blind eye to your plight and protecting Sugimura,” Akechi explained, closing his eyes, “As the ‘Prince Detective’, after all, I can learn information on any case which catches my eye. The anonymous tip from, I’m assuming… Futaba? That something had happened to Sugimura was acted upon immediately, unlike the anonymous evidence of your abuse which was entirely ignored.”

“Acted upon immediately?” Haru questioned, then wandered back to the coffee drip, “Am I a suspect, Akechi-kun?”

“They’ve proclaimed it a mental shutdown already, which means no suspects. The police are going to try and keep it out of the public eye, so that they don’t have to admit the corruption evident in ignoring audio evidence,” He shook his head, then closed his eyes, “I must tell you the truth, Okumura-san. I did briefly consider that you may be behind the mental shutdowns, especially since your father’s been benefiting from the breakdowns on the part of his business competitors, but now that I’ve met you and determined you really were the victim of the situation, I know it couldn’t possibly be you. I can see that you would harm yourself for your father’s sake, but I can’t imagine you’d bring harm to anyone else so he could succeed.”

“...Thank you,” Haru nodded, then smiled, “That’s a weight off my shoulders… We all saw it happen, but if they were trying to pin it on me, then it would just be even more complicated trying to explain why my six friends and one cat friend were in the house.”

“Cat friend?” Akechi asked, then smiled, “Ah, that’s an adorable way to refer to a pet…” He turned to look out at the door of the cafe, “Well, one of those six friends is Sae Niijima’s sister, right? I’m sure that at least _she’d_ be considered a reliable witness,” He turned back to Akira, and his smile became a teasing grin, “No offense!”

\----------------

“Makoto!” Sae’s voice, franctic, greeted Makoto as soon as she arrived home after stargazing, and ran up to her, wrapping her up in a tight hug, “Tell me everything. What happened to you? Is the yakuza trying to get revenge on you because I kept Kaneshiro from being silenced??”

“What…?” Makoto questioned as Sae released the death grip, making eye contact with her in evident shock, “Why would you think that? I told you that I was going stargazing with my friends because something bad happened and we needed some emotional distance.”

“When did you tell me that?” Sae narrowed her eyes, and frowned, holding onto Makoto’s shoulders, “Even so… something bad? What was it?”

“I sent you a text,” Makoto mumbled, pulling her phone from her pocket only to find that the text in question was labeled as ‘failed to send’. She groaned and showed her screen to Sae, “It… didn’t send. It’s time-stamped, though. I’m so sorry I made you worry.”

“Don’t apologize yet, because I’m still worried!” Sae shook her head, then turned and walked away into the kitchen, “I’ll make some tea, and you’re going to explain to me what this ‘something bad’ was that made you feel the need to leave Tokyo.”

“Okay,” Makoto nodded. That was definitely a fair demand. She followed Sae, took a deep breath, then explained the situation, “My friends and I were called over to another friend’s home. She lives with a bad person who she had a political engagement to, and he was treating her horribly… And in this case, it seemed like he was going to kill her,” She paused, grabbing her arm and looking away. Now that she was explaining to an outside party, she found tears pricking at her eyes. When did life get so complicated? It wasn’t when she joined the Phantom Thieves… it was sometime before that. When her father died… Perhaps the reason she was so impacted by Haru’s situation was that she knew she’d have done the same if given that choice.

“That’s horrible,” Sae turned on the stove, then crossed her arms as she turned to face Makoto again, her voice starting out harsh but then softening as she saw just how shaken up her sister was, “Why didn’t you tell the police that this was happening to your friend, Makoto!?”

“We tried,” Makoto explained, “We had audio evidence of the abuse, and sent it to the police anonymously, but they did nothing. When we got to the house…”

“...Makoto, was your friend killed?” Sae questioned, leaning down to look her in the eyes again, worried even more when she noticed that her sister was crying.

“No, but she almost was,” Makoto answered, squeezing her eyes shut with a shake of her head, “She would have been, he was obviously going to… But as he was approaching her with his belt, his eyes went all white and he started dripping this black stuff. I think it was a mental shutdown. If we hadn’t been there, and the mental shutdown didn’t happen, one of my best friends would have been murdered tonight!” She held her hands in close to herself, the last few words coming out as a sharp sob.

“You witnessed a mental shutdown?” Sae questioned, then held Makoto close to her in a hug again, this one comforting rather than panicked, “I’m so sorry you had to see that. I promise, Makoto, I’ll find out the cause, and you’ll never have to see anything so awful again.”

“Yes I will…” Makoto mumbled against Sae’s shoulder, holding onto her, “Sis… The world’s full of things which are that horrible, right? Don’t lie to me.”

“If I have to be honest, then yes,” Sae pulled away and looked down at the floor, “There are diseases and injuries much more gruesome than mental shutdowns, and there are so many people who are abused their entire lives, and only a few moments more would leave your friend in the growing number of people far too young, murdered by their spouses. I want to protect you from all of these things, but I don’t know if I can. Maybe that’s why I was so harsh to you when you said that Dad would have agreed with the Phantom Thieves… I didn’t want you getting into anything as dangerous as what killed him.”

“Sis…” Makoto sobbed, dropping to the floor. Sae was shocked for a moment, but then knelt down to try and comfort her as she continued, “I know you only want to protect me, but I already know how terrible people can be to others. A few months ago, about when we had that conversation…” She shook her head again, “I’d heard that the yakuza was taking advantage of students at Shujin, and when I tried to investigate, I ended up getting in a bad position myself…”

“What…?” Sae questioned, “Makoto, you never told me that…”

“I wanted to,” She covered her face with her hands, “But I couldn’t stop thinking about how you said I was useless to you. I couldn’t bear to be even more of a burden on you by telling you about what happened. He said I owed him three million yen… And after about two and a half weeks top try and get the money together, I’d either have my reputation ruined with compromising photographs, or have to work off the debt as a sex slave to him and his henchmen. Of course I’d want to root for the Phantom Thieves, when they were my only hope...”

“Oh my God…” Sae shook her head, sitting on the floor now next to where Makoto was kneeling, “Kaneshiro didn’t confess that… Not that I’m doubting you. Well, I guess even a mafia boss won’t tell all…”

“Even after a change of heart, I bet he knew that if you found out then you’d kill him yourself?” Makoto offered, wiping her eyes, but then another sob bubbled up in her chest, “Sis, I haven’t told anybody, not even my friends… But one of the nights when you had to sleep at the courthouse instead of coming home, he sent some guys over here, to… ‘make sure that the payment options I’d been presented with were truly viable’.”

“You don’t mean…” Sae froze, then stood up again and clenched her fists, “Makoto… I’m so sorry. It’s my fault this happened to you.”

“It isn’t,” Makoto got up again, this time taking deep breaths as she wiped her eyes once more, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, these things aren’t anybody’s fault except for the perpetrators,” She grabbed Sae’s arm, taking comfort in the fact that she had somebody nearby during her breakdown, and that her sister really did care that this had happened to her, “My friends… Almost all of them have been hurt by adults, too. In the same sort of ways, I think… I don’t know for sure, but I guess I can sort of tell by looking at them. I think part of the reason I’ve been okay is because even if I never told them, I know they understand.”

“Most of your friends…” Sae mumbled, looking away, “That’s right. There are so many awful criminals who never even get caught, whose victims are the only ones who even know a crime’s been done… And here I am trying to preserve some precious perfect conviction record against petty criminals and crimes of desperation. I really have fallen from the meaning of justice… Makoto, can you ever forgive me?”

“As long as you move forward the way Dad would have wanted you to,” Makoto nodded, still leaning against her, “Then I think you can.”

“I will, I promise,” Sae nodded, “And I’m going to start… With you and your friends. I’ll do everything in my power as a prosecutor to bring those who’ve wronged you to justice. Your friends too, if you happen to have an idea of what happened. Not that you should spill your close friends’ secrets to me, of course, but… If I’m able to help, please let me.”

“Thanks, Sis,” Makoto let a smile back onto her face, and a relieved sigh went through her as she released Sae’s arm, “Let’s have that tea.”


	6. Chapter 6

Futaba didn’t leave her room the day after Sugimura’s mental shutdown. She’d been mostly quiet during the stargazing trip, except to say that they’d been helped out. Maybe that was too far to go, to mask her true feelings. She didn’t want to show that she was suffering, at a time when the most important priority was to help Haru. However… This was the second mental shutdown she’d ever seen, and also the second one which caused a death through another method. Of course, she wasn’t a convincing liar, so part of her did feel that it was helpful of the metaverse criminal to save Haru’s life; of course she did. And saying that they shouldn’t try to find them was a matter of fear. When Kunikazu revealed the criminal’s identity, then she could get her revenge.

For now, she just felt conflicted between her gratitude and her horror. Why was she this overjoyed that Haru had been rescued? Not that it was strange to be glad her friend was alive and no longer being subjected to daily torment, but it _was_ strange to still feel _so_ happy when the cause of that rescue was the root of her trauma. Maybe Inari was right, she thought. Maybe she did care about Haru more than she thought she did.

Still, the flashbacks when she saw the way Sugimura oozed dark, black blood… She needed time to recover on her own, backsliding into her old habits. She locked the door on her room, lay down in bed, and ate three bowls of instant yakisoba. She napped till past noon, then wrapped herself in a blanket since it was cold and sat before her computer, opening once more episode one of Phoenix Ranger Featherman. She had it memorized by now, but rewatching it always helped to level her head and quell the noises which threatened at the edges of her… Cognition.

Even knowing what it was, Futaba couldn’t just get them to stop. They had stopped for a little while, after she awoke to the power of her persona… But mental health just wasn’t as simple as that. It was true that she wasn’t blaming herself anymore, so the auditory hallucinations had no real material to work with. Instead, they came in innocuous forms for a while, counting numbers in the wrong order, clicking noises and weird whispers which sounded almost like words, but nothing that she wanted to pay enough attention to in order to hear. Once she started feeling guilt about other things, though, they came back in full force.

‘If you hadn’t been such a coward, you could have done more for Haru, and you could have prevented the mental shutdown’ was the theme today. In the past weeks it had been aspects of how she’d tried to rescue Haru right away, but failed out of paranoia, fear, and intrusive memories. Those memories, too, manifested. Even when she stopped listening in on Sugimura’s house, she heard his voice taunting, she heard Haru _crying_ , and if there was one thing she had to say it was that she’d done a great job of pretending to be okay in front of the others.

She had to wonder if other members of the Phantom Thieves did the same thing. She was sure it wasn’t Akira or Inari who were in pain right now, but she was sure that Haru had been lying to her friends on the severity of her troubles given that she had inside knowledge. Maybe any one of her other friends, too, could be doing the same thing and she’d never even know…

Phoenix Ranger Featherman was doing nothing to keep her mind off of things today. She guessed it was all just too fresh in her mind. Well… she couldn’t just keep contemplating these things. She wasn’t going to make any confrontations in the group chat, but she did send the same text in her individual chats with each of her friends. “Please be honest with me and let me know if you are keeping secrets.” She knew that this kind of text was probably just going to be ignored, or told that she was being socially inadequate again… But shockingly enough, she received a response within moments from Ryuji.

SKULL: Are you having a bad day, Futaba???  
ORACLE: Why would you think that? :c I’m worried about all of YOU  
SKULL: I mean…  
SKULL: I dunno I just get the feeling. I can worry too!  
SKULL: Plus, that’s the second mental shutdown you’ve seen in person, right?  
ORACLE: Er… Yeah.  
SKULL: That must be rough.  
SKULL: Look, I know I’m not the best with words.  
SKULL: Or seeming sympathetic.  
SKULL: Or tactful self-expression.  
SKULL: But I do worry! And I wanna help you.  
SKULL: And you’re worrying now, so how bout this…  
SKULL: I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?  
SKULL: Problems, I mean. Not anything weird.  
ORACLE: Ryuji…  
ORACLE: Remember before exams, when you asked if I was relapsing?  
SKULL: Yeah?  
ORACLE: My distorted desires may be gone, but I don’t know…  
ORACLE: If I can ever really have a normal cognition.  
SKULL: What do you mean, Futaba?  
ORACLE: My hallucinations never really went away.  
ORACLE: I didn’t get better.  
ORACLE: They just got less bad.  
ORACLE: And now they’re getting worse again, so yeah. I’m relapsing.  
SKULL: Wait, never!?  
SKULL: Shit…  
SKULL: Yo, that means we were all acting like everything was fine…  
SKULL: And you were still dealing with that bullshit?  
ORACLE: Yes, that’s the gist of it.  
ORACLE: lmao  
ORACLE: You hate me?  
SKULL: What the fuck!? No way!  
SKULL: I’d never hate you!  
SKULL: Uh, except in your palace when you kept sending us into deathtraps.  
SKULL: Or well, your shadow did.  
ORACLE: kek  
ORACLE: Thanks, Ryuji :)  
ORACLE: Now tell me YOUR problems, okay? We had a deal ;)  
SKULL: Fuck, that’s right.  
SKULL: You told me some real shit just now…  
SKULL: So I guess I have to match it.  
ORACLE: Talking to you made me feel a lot better, so…  
ORACLE: Maybe talking to me can help?  
SKULL: I dunno, it’s kind of old shit.  
SKULL: Nothing’s going on right now anyway.  
ORACLE: Just say iiiiiit!  
SKULL: You remember Kamoshida, right?  
ORACLE: I saw the news reports, yeah.  
SKULL: I guess changes of heart don’t get them to confess every detail.  
SKULL: He confessed to  
ORACLE: Physical abuse towards the guy’s volleyball team  
ORACLE: And sexual harassment towards the girl’s one  
ORACLE: Yes?  
SKULL: Yeah, that’s what he said.  
SKULL: But you know, that’s probably because he didn’t stop to think of certain people.  
SKULL: He only confessed to extorting Ann for sex after she called him out.  
ORACLE: Oh no  
SKULL: I mean, there was obviously physical abuse towards the girls too.  
SKULL: And to the track team when he was in charge of them.  
SKULL: Of course there was bound to be overlap between his statements.  
ORACLE: But- Ryuji, you were on the track team then, right?  
SKULL: Yeah, I was. And he hated me most.  
ORACLE: Thank you for telling me.  
SKULL: Hey, we had a deal.  
SKULL: So, I guess what I’m trying to say is this.  
SKULL: Futaba, what’s the best way to support you?  
SKULL: To avoid getting your hallucinations to show up?  
ORACLE: I don’t know how to stop them.  
ORACLE: But I guess a surefire way to get them to start…  
ORACLE: Is to hear about car accidents.  
ORACLE: There anything I can do for you?  
SKULL: I won’t talk about accidents around you then, for sure!  
SKULL: Uh, well, it’s kind of a common word…  
SKULL: And don’t you dare tell the others!  
SKULL: Or Mishima!  
SKULL: But I panic when I hear people say ‘shrimp’ out loud.  
ORACLE: Don’t worry, if you don’t want me to tell, I won’t.  
ORACLE: But wouldn’t you want to avoid panic attacks?  
SKULL: Look, I know none of our friends would give me shit for it…  
SKULL: But that doesn’t change the fact that it feels kind of…  
SKULL: I dunno, pathetic? To be impacted so badly by one common word.  
ORACLE: It’s a keyword.  
SKULL: What?  
ORACLE: Like the keywords to get into palaces?  
ORACLE: But in this case, it’s the key to unlocking your worst emotions…  
SKULL: Yeah, I guess that makes sense… Do you think everyone’s got one?  
ORACLE: Most people with trauma, probably.  
SKULL: Well… Thanks for the chat, Futaba.  
SKULL: It did end up helping after all.  
SKULL: See you later? I’ll buy you a snack or a soda next time we hang out.  
ORACLE: Only if I can buy you one too!

Futaba closed her phone for now, and smiled to herself. She was glad to have sorted things out with Ryuji at least, even if she wouldn’t end up with responses from the rest of her friends. Well, maybe she would after all, just not so immediately. Opening up to Ryuji, too, was a strange feeling. Inari and Akira knew that she never stopped hallucinating, but she hadn’t wanted to worry them with the information that the sounds were getting worse again. Keeping things from each other… Was that a normal part of friendship? Well, early friendship for sure. Maybe coming to an honest understanding of each other was just a part of making that step to best friend. Not to mention, Yusuke and Akira did both seem to know who she had a crush on, and Ryuji didn’t, so there was that.

Who she had a crush on? No, of course not. They just thought they knew. She didn’t have a crush. It wouldn’t work out, anyway; she couldn’t express attraction to somebody who’d just been through a stunningly horrendous relationship. This must have been what Yusuke meant by timing… Well, it couldn’t be a serious crush anyway. She’d move on, just as she’d moved on from liking Mishima.

While thinking about this, her phone buzzed again, so she grabbed it only to see that Inari had answered her. Was he keeping a secret from her too? She wouldn’t have expected that from him.

FOX: I’m not hiding anything from you, Futaba.  
FOX: Well, except for who I like, but that’s unimportant.  
FOX: Are you hiding something from me?  
ORACLE: Yeah I am  
FOX: I see. Thank you for the honesty.   
FOX: I know you will tell me when you see fit…  
FOX: But do you mind if I ask anyway?  
ORACLE: Hmmm.  
ORACLE: How about this.  
ORACLE: If you tell me who you like   
FOX: That’s absurdly unfair.  
FOX: But very well! I will tell you if it will prompt you to open up to me.  
FOX: The person who I have a crush on…  
FOX: It is Akira.  
ORACLE: Whoa, that’s rough!  
ORACLE: I bet it’s hard to try and figure out if he’s flirting.  
ORACLE: Single sentences…  
FOX: It is frustrating indeed. In any case, the timing isn’t right.  
FOX: As I told you, waiting is important.  
ORACLE: Things should calm down more first.  
FOX: Yes, you understand. Now, what troubles you?  
ORACLE: Hallucinations, worse. 

She copy-pasted the explanation she’d given to Ryuji.

FOX: I see. Is there anything at all I can do to help?  
ORACLE: I don’t think so. But I guessed you should know.  
ORACLE: I’m shut-in today…  
ORACLE: But I promise I’ll go outside again tomorrow!  
FOX: You have to.  
ORACLE: What?  
FOX: You have to go outside, because you and I are going to a movie. I’ll skip school.  
ORACLE: Huh!? Just the two of us!?  
FOX: Of course. Now you have to go outside, or you’ll disappoint me.  
FOX: And reminding you of your capabilities in the outside room…  
FOX: That will keep you from becoming a full-time recluse again, yes?  
ORACLE: Ohh, I see!  
ORACLE: You’re a great party member, Inari!  
ORACLE: Oh, I’m getting a text from somebody else…  
FOX: Go ahead. I’ll see you tomorrow. No bailing allowed.

She switched the chat tabs to find a response from Akira.

JOKER: Nah.  
JOKER: Morgana says nah too.  
JOKER: Correction. ‘No’.  
ORACLE: Great!  
ORACLE: Oh, how’s Haru doing? She still there?  
JOKER: Good. Learning coffee.  
ORACLE: Whoa, Sojiro’s teaching her?  
ORACLE: That’s awesome!  
ORACLE: Maybe she’ll decide to work at Leblanc…  
ORACLE: And then it’ll be even easier to see her!  
JOKER: You’re enthusiastic.  
ORACLE: Shut up. I just like having friends.  
ORACLE: Also, Sojiro was a blessing in my life at the worst time.  
ORACLE: I bet he’s being a good influence on Haru-chan too!  
JOKER: Correct.

Futaba was glad to hear this. So Haru was working towards being okay, moving forward… Better than she did after her own trauma, which in her personal opinion, was nowhere near as bad as what Haru had to go through. At least when it came to Futaba’s situation, it was just two isolated events which she inflated to a constant problem on her own. Had she been stronger, she felt, she could have recovered much more quickly. Maybe even focus on furthering her life as soon as Haru seemed to be.

Though there was also the possibility that Haru was still in shock… And Futaba knew that her friends had to be there in case it all crashed down.

 

\--------------

Ann had a very particular goal for coping with the shock of the previous night, and that was to focus on absolutely anything other than it. Thus, when Futaba texted her asking if she was hiding anything… She wasn’t put off by it, but made a decision to leave her on read. She was trying to distract herself from the tragedy of the world right now, not wallow in it by opening up to Futaba on her problems. That wasn’t something she was outright opposed to… But not today.

Today, she had to just relax as much as she could, and so she set to thinking who she could invite out for that purpose. Spending time with Akira was always fun, but she also always seemed to get called out to modeling jobs whenever they were alone together. No correlation, but it was an annoying coincidence that she’d prefer not to deal with. Honestly, that time when she and Makoto had gotten two different types of crepe and gone splitsies on them… Was one of the best afternoons she’d had in a while. Makoto filled a certain void that had been left by Shiho, that it seemed her other teammates couldn’t.

With that in mind, she scrolled to the contact for Makoto and started the call, holding the phone to her ear as it rang. The phone was picked up after four rings, just before it would go to voicemail, but not by Makoto, “Hello, this is Makoto’s sister. She’s still asleep.”

“Oh, hi Niijima-san!” Ann greeted her, sitting up and twirling her hair, “That’s good, we were up pretty late last night. I mean, I’m sure you know that! We all went out stargazing, which was pretty cool even though none of us knew a single constellation… I was wondering if Makoto would want to come hang out with me in Shibuya later today to get crepes, so could you ask her for me when she wakes up?”

“Yes, of course. Takamaki-san, was it?” Sae asked, “I’ll pass on the message. And… thank you.”

“Thank me? Thank me for what?” Ann questioned back.

“For being there for Makoto,” Sae answered, her voice light, “Before this year, she never had friends asking her to go out and do things, after all. I’ll have her call you back once she wakes up.”

“Thanks!” Ann nodded, then Sae hung up the phone. Well, it wasn’t that early, but Ann _had_ been able to go to sleep straight away when she got home. She had no idea if Makoto had been able to sleep as soon as she arrived home, after all. The way Sae was talking sounded kind of like they’d had a heart-to-heart conversation recently. Though Ann wasn’t confident enough in her people-reading skills to be sure of this theory.

In the meantime, she’d just watch some TV and keep an eye on her phone. It was another hour before it rang again, and she answered it on the first ring, “Hey Makoto!”

“Morning, Ann. You called earlier?” Makoto yawned, “A-ah, sorry! I just woke up.”

“No problem! Yeah, I was wondering if you’d want a distraction? We can go to Shibuya and share crepes again. Maybe even three different ones this time! We can say that it’s lunch. Or breakfast past noon, since it _would_ be the first meal of the day,” She offered, giggling a bit, “Crepes totally count as a meal!”

“Three different crepes?” Makoto questioned, then laughed along with Ann, “Ann, you read my mind! I’d love to do that. Meet you in Shibuya in about half an hour?”

“Awesome! Yeah, I’ll see you there! Then we can figure out what types of crepes to get!” Ann grinned, “Bye!” She hung up the phone, then stood up and turned off the television. She checked the mirror again even though she’d just gotten dressed, and indeed, there was no fashion faux pas on her part. Assured of this, she grabbed her housekey off the hook by the door and stuffed it into the deepest pocket of her jacket, since she always seemed to lose track of it if she put it in her bag. With certainty that she had everything she needed, she left and made her way over to Central Street. Once there, she just stood near the crepe stand to wait for Makoto.

Before another ten minutes had passed, Makoto approached, waving to Ann as she came into view, “Ann! It’s good to see you. How did you sleep last night?”

“Hey!” She greeted Makoto with a grin, “I slept like a log. I guess that you didn’t sleep so great though, since you slept in so late.”

“Actually, once I got to sleep I did just fine,” Makoto explained, sighing, “But the text I sent my sister about going stargazing didn’t send, so I had to stay up explaining what happened to her. I think, though,” She closed her eyes and smiled again, “She may have had a change of heart of her own free will. You know, when I joined the Phantom Thieves, I felt like we should change my sister’s heart… And she did have a palace, I discovered, but I think she changed her heart all on her own decision.”

“Whoa, seriously?” Ann questioned, putting her hands on her hips, “That’s great! That means it’s totally possible for people to realize their desires are distorted and move forward from it without having their hearts stolen. So there’s proof that Haru’s dad really is going to do the same!”

“Yes, exactly,” Makoto nodded, clasping her hands together in front of herself, “When I looked into my sister’s palace on my own, once, I found her cognitive version of me. She saw me as a tiny white rabbit that needed to be protected,” She explained, then took a deep breath and let her smile grow, “But last night, she made me a promise. She said that she’s going to be someone our father would be proud of, and she’s going to make sure she upholds true justice over advancing her career.”

“That’s seriously awesome!” Ann nodded. Sure, she wanted a distraction, but hearing that Makoto had reconciled with her sister was the _good_ side of the coin when it came to things like this, “I’m glad you two can get along better now. But also, I gotta say, it’s gotta be just certain people who can change naturally. I really don’t think Kamoshida would’ve changed without having his heart stolen.”

“That seems true,” Makoto nodded, “Futaba basically changed her own heart, too, even though her palace was still involved. Anyway, what flavor crepes should we get? I know I definitely want that green tea ice cream special they’ve got on the board there,” She pointed at the chalkboard in front of the stand, “So what do you want?”

“Ooh, they have the triple chocolate special again!” Ann noted as Makoto pointed her towards the specials board, then she turned back to Makoto, “So that, definitely! And… How about for the third one we go for just the popular one? Strawberry, banana, whipped cream, hazelnut butter?”

“That sounds good to me,” Makoto nodded in agreement, then stepped into line alongside Ann.

“It’s my treat, okay?” Ann offered, pulling out her wallet, “I mean, there’s even a chance I’ll be called away from our date to go to work, so it’s the least I can do to pay for it…”

“Date?” Makoto asked, tilting her head.

“I’m kidding, of course!” Ann waved it off with her free hand, then pulled enough money for the three crepes from her wallet and returned it to her bag, “Just a little joke between gal pals, right?”

“I see…” Makoto nodded, then chuckled a bit, “Ah, Eiko-chan sometimes says the same thing, you know. Isn’t a date really just when two people go out somewhere without other friends? It doesn’t necessarily have to mean anything we usually associate with the word date. So technically speaking, we _are_ on a date.”

“Yeah!” Ann nodded, still with a wide grin as they reached the front of the line. She put her money up on the counter, “One of each special today, and the classic choco-fruit, please!” She ordered the food, and then stepped to the side with Makoto to wait for the preparation to be complete, “So, Makoto, how goes the college applications?”

“I haven’t heard anything back so far,” Makoto shook her head, folding her hands on her left leg as she leaned back against the wall beside Ann, “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get into my first choice school, without a letter of recommendation… But I’m sure my own virtues will hold me up at least well enough to get into my fourth choice.”

“Wait, are letters of rec seriously that important??” Ann questioned, wide-eyed as she leaned forward, “I had no idea! I better start schmoozing with a faculty member!”

“They are pretty important to most colleges… Without a letter, you can only really count on something a few steps below your grades and extracurriculars. That’s why, when I decided to stop spying for Principal Kobayakawa, I knew that I couldn’t slip in any other area if I still wanted to get into a high-ranking school.”

“With my grades and extracurriculars, I bet I’d need a letter of rec to get into even a really _low_ -ranking school,” Ann groaned, “Though, I did do better last time thanks to your help! Ryuji did too. So thanks a ton for that!”

“I’ll be glad to help you anytime,” Makoto nodded, then turned to look at Ann, “But you know, I’m not sure if you need a college degree to be a model. If you struggle with school, you really shouldn’t force yourself through more of it just because that’s what society expects.”

“I know!” Ann nodded, then looked up to the sky, “But I think going to college could help me achieve my goals anyway. Learning more about the world can give me a better perspective, and help me to portray different types of people. I’d love it if I could be the kind of person who people say, ‘wow, she’s smart _and_ beautiful’. Like you, Makoto!”

“Like… me?” Makoto questioned, then turned to grab the crepes as the employee of the stand set them on the counter and got her attention. Once holding them, she watched Ann while the pair of them went to find somewhere to sit down and eat, “I don’t think anyone’s saying that about me… Smart, maybe, but I think the only other term anyone would pick to describe me would be some variation on ‘kissass’.”

“No way, Makoto!” Ann shook her head as she sat down, picking up the triple chocolate crepe and taking a huge bite out of it before she continued, speaking through her mouthful, “You’re really pretty! Prettier than me, definitely. I know the only reason I’ve got my foot in the door of modeling is because there’s demand for foreign beauty…”

“Well, that’s simply not true,” Makoto shook her head, giggling, “Didn’t you get your start in Finland, where your ‘foreign beauty’ was just normal? Not to mention, I haven’t met many models, but I’m sure just from watching you talk through a mouthful of crepe that you’ve got a heavy helping of endearing inner beauty.”

“Uhm…” Ann flushed in embarrassment as her habit of stuffing her face was pointed out to her, and swallowed her mouthful before continuing, “Look, I can’t help it if food’s really good!”

“I wasn’t making fun of you for it,” Makoto shook her head, then picked up the green tea crepe and took an equally huge bite which she talked through, “I fink ith cue!”

“What?” Ann questioned, narrowing her eyes.

“I faid…” Makoto paused, then swallowed her mouthful, “I said I think it’s cute! And I just discovered that it takes a great amount of skill to speak in a comprehensible way with your mouth full, so I admire you for that too.”

“It’s a skill I’ve honed over the years,” Ann lifted her arm and flexed it with a wink, but then realized what Makoto had just said and pulled her arms in close to herself and closed her eyes, her cheeks getting redder, “Did you just say that it’s cute!?”

 

“Did I?” Makoto smirked, raising her eyebrows, “Hm, I’m not sure. I can’t quite remember if I did.”

“Well…” Ann frowned, looking away, even redder, “Look, just eat your crepe!”

\----------

“Who was that, Kitagawa-san?” Hifumi asked, having noticed that Yusuke had paused in painting her shogi practice to check his phone. He seemed worried, so she had to be curious.

“Hm? Oh, another friend of mine. She’s having a relapse of some mental health problems, so I’m a bit concerned. However, I believe I’ve dealt with the situation, so we can continue if you’d like,” He explained. Yusuke had, that morning, received a text from Hifumi that she was free for painting today if he was, and he didn’t see any reason to turn her down. After all, he needed to treat himself in some way as recovery from the dark emotional state he and his friends had experienced the previous night.

Bonus points if he could treat himself in a way which _didn’t_ cost money. He was much too broke for that. Hifumi had given him the perfect opportunity which he’d been hoping for, so it worked out nicely. However, Hifumi stood up from her board and walked over to him, “No, I think that’s enough for today. We can continue another time,” She leaned over his shoulder and stole a peek at his texts. He moved his phone, but she’d already seen, “Oh my.”

“Which text did you see?” Yusuke questioned, narrowing his eyes.

“So you do like Akira-kun. I thought as much, Kitagawa-san,” Hifumi giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, “The bond between teammates? How could I _really_ believe that’s the reason for your particular closeness?”

“It is the reason. I was lying to my friend so that she would open up to me about her problems,” Yusuke denied Hifumi’s conjecture.

“You’re not that type of person. Even if you were, why choose Akira to say that you like? I’m standing right here, so if it really was a lie, wouldn’t your first instinct be to say I’m the one you have a crush on?” Hifumi asked, leaning forward with a smug smile, “Checkmate, Kitagawa-san.”

“Why does it matter to you anyhow?” Yusuke questioned, standing up and bundling the work in progress painting of Hifumi, “We’ve only just met, so is it really any business of yours who I am attracted to?”

“Technically, no, but if the person you like is one of my best friends,” Hifumi turned away, holding one hand up to her cheek, “The romantic side of Queen Togo, buried deep within my maiden’s soul, flutters… Thinking how lovelorn you both must be, but still remain apart, it impedes on my command of my troops! My emotions get in the way of leading my soldiers efficiently…”

“You’re quite mistaken, Togo-san,” Yusuke shook his head, “Disregarding my own denial, there’s absolutely no chance that Akira feels in any similar manner.”

“You say that, but…” Hifumi started, trailing off in a teasing fashion, but before she could continue she was interrupted by a voice behind her.

“Hey, you’re… Hifumi Togo, right?” Mishima happened to be at Inokashira park today, and recognized the former shogi idol from behind, “I heard the the Phantom Thieves changed your mother’s heart! Think I could interview you about it?”

“Mishima-kun…” Yusuke mumbled, giving him a hard stare at the social misstep of such a cold approach. After this, he looked to Hifumi and explained, “This is Mishima. He runs the Phantom Thieves forum, or… Phan-site. He’s also unwilling to entertain my request to paint him.”

“Oh, I see,” Hifumi nodded, then put her hands on her hips, “Somebody who turns down Kitagawa-san’s request to paint them must truly be a coward. In that case, I won’t humor you.”

“Oh good grief…” Mishima mumbled, raising a hand to his forehead, “I should have known, as another student at the art school… You’d be just as strange as him. He wanted to paint me nude!”

“So? Akira-kun _volunteered_ to be a nude model for Kitagawa-san,” Hifumi pointed out, tilting her head a little, then smirked, “Of course I’m only teasing, Mishima-san. Don’t worry.”

“Just how many stories about me has Akira told you…?” Yusuke questioned with a heavy groan.

“So, about the interview?” Mishima asked, a little bit lost in the conversation.

“You cannot interview me,” Hifumi shook her head, “I’m through involving myself in the media, and am only focusing on shogi now. Good luck with your website, though. I quite enjoy reading through those forums, when I get some free time.”

“Wait, you read the Phan-site?” Mishima asked, wide-eyed.

“Of course,” Hifumi nodded, “I think… Most people do. You do a good job maintaining it, as far as I can tell. Well, I should be going. I’ll see you both later,” With this, Hifumi waved and turned around, walking away in the opposite direction.

“Oh yeah, Yusuke…” Mishima turned to him, scratching the back of his head, “You talk to Futaba pretty often, right?”

“Yes, all the time,” Yusuke nodded, “Why?”

“A few weeks ago I got a kind of weird call from her…” He sighed, glancing away, “I haven’t talked to her since, and I’m worried because I think I accidentally upset her with something I said. Is she okay?”

“Yes. We’re seeing a movie tomorrow,” Yusuke nodded, “Though it wouldn’t surprise me if you did make a Freudian slip which caused Futaba to panic. Your personalities are only compatible in small, non-serious doses… I think. I’m no expert.”

“Oh…” Mishima sighed, frowning, “So you don’t think there’s anyway she and I could ever date? She’s such a cool girl, and likes computers...”

“I don’t believe so. You have too much in common,” Yusuke shook his head, “Only narcissists want to date themselves.”

“I see,” Mishima gave a slow nod, then turned around, “Well, have fun at your movie!”

\-------

“Oh, dammit…” Ann mumbled over the empty crepe plates as her phone rang. She pulled it out and answered, then when the call was finished, turned to Makoto, “Sorry, Makoto. As I thought might happen, my agency wants me to come in today for a shoot. Uh, I guess it’s probably the Phantom Thieves themed shoot.”

“What?” Makoto questioned, furrowing her brow.

“Apparently, the fad’s still going so strong that they want me to do a shoot based on it! I guess they can sense that I’m a good fit,” Ann raised her fingers in a peace sign, but then her face fell, “But that does mean that we’ll have to cut this short… At least we finished our crepes before we were interrupted.”

“Well, I could come along to the shoot?” Makoto offered, standing up, “I want to spend some more time with you, if I can, Ann…”

“I dunno… They told me not to bring Akira again, since I used to drag him along pretty often. I guess that probably applies to any other friends I might want to bring along, too,” Ann sighed with a shrug, and stood up as well, “I only wish you could come along. I had a lot of fun with you today, Makoto!”

“That’s fine, then. We’ll just have to do this again soon,” Makoto nodded, then handed Ann her bag from under the table and watched her go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic does not and will not contain any smut, but if you'd like a smuttier perspective on Ryuji's trauma, then "Track Traitor" by LemonQuails is the place to go.


	7. Chapter 7

Yusuke waited outside the theater in Yongen-Jaya. Additional texts the previous night had him and Futaba making the decision to go to this one rather than the one in Shibuya, given that they _had_ gone to Mementos for the sake of this cinema. It was the least they could do to support it from time to time. He did hope that she’d actually come, but would understand if it turned out she wasn’t able to get herself out there. He was only trying to help.

 

Futaba did arrive, though not very confidently. She was shaking a bit, and holding her phone in close to her body with both arms. However, she still gave Yusuke a smile as she approached him, and greeted him pleasantly, if a bit rough, “H-Hey Inari! So which movie do you want to see? It l-looks like they’re screening two different ones…”

 

“Hmm…” Yusuke pondered aloud for a moment before giving Futaba a simple shrug in response, alongside a few words, “I haven’t got a preference, to tell you the truth. Neither of these jump out at me particularly, and besides. We are doing this to give you a pleasant day, so even if there were one which I was keen on, the decision is yours.”

 

“In that case…” Futaba looked at the posters again, chuckling, her demeanor becoming easier now that she’s met up with her friend, “How about Ordinal Scale? It might not make much sense, if you haven’t seen Sword Art Online, but I saw its premier with Akira and it was really good, I mean… Objectively, it didn’t make any sense, but it was fun to watch, so it’d be fun to see it a second time, too.”

 

“In that case, that’s what we’ll see,” Yusuke nodded, then led Futaba into the theater, “Movies are an… ‘easy mode’ activity for you, yes? Since it’s so dark that you can’t actually tell that there are people around?”

 

“Yeah, that’s right. I sometimes even pull off going alone, on good days,” She nodded as she followed him, holding her hands behind her back, “Though it sounds like, super weird to hear _you_ of all people using video game terminology like that!”

 

“It isn’t as if I’ve never played a game. It is a form of art, after all,” Yusuke chuckled, “But, you knew that already. I suppose that I don’t much seem the type to use such niche statements in an everyday setting, but sometimes it seems that such terminology is the only real way to properly describe any of your actions.”

 

“Kek. I’m one with the games,” Futaba smirked as they approached the counter, deferring to Yusuke to get the tickets while pulling out her wallet to pay him back. Talking to strangers for the purpose of purchasing things was something which she’d managed to pick up on in fairly good time, but that didn’t mean she was chomping at the bit to do it every chance she got, especially when she was already in worse shape than usual. Yusuke got the tickets, then Futaba paid him back for… both of them? “So that you can afford to eat food tomorow. I mean, you’re doing me a favor, so the least I can do is make sure you don’t suffer for it…”

 

“Ah, you’re much too kind, Futaba,” Yusuke chuckled, but didn’t actually protest the fact she was paying. She got an allowance from Sojiro, after all, and didn’t have any real personal expenses to deal with. Meanwhile the guardianless Yusuke had important things to buy, like food, and lobsters but not for eating.

 

“Look, you’re trying to keep me from being miserable, I’ll do the same for you!” She waved it off, “Besides, there’s like, no good October game releases this year, so I have some extra cash. I’ll buy concessions too, if you want any.”

 

“F-Futaba,” Yusuke muttered, clutching his chest, “Your selflessness! I feel as though my heart may burst from the gratitude!”

 

“Selfless?” She gave him a flat look, “I mean, I’m gonna eat the snacks too. It’s not like I’m sacrificing anything for your sake. Come on, you’re ordering, so don’t you dare drop dead on me.”

 

“The callous statement that you want me alive for the _purpose_ of speaking to the cashier has, in the nick of time, revived me,” He took a deep breath, then dropped his hands to his sides and stood up straight again, “Thank you. Now, what is the concession allowance?”

 

“Get whatever you want, but less than 4,000 yen total! And no more than three copies of the same thing! You are not allowed to buy 4,000 yen worth of Swedish Fish candies,” Futaba explained, falling in behind him again, out of sight as he spoke to the cashier. Though his financial skills were atrocious, he did understand budgets, though his usual budgets were forced upon him by his own misuse of funds. He actually got quite an array of snacks, for 3,500 yen, which Futaba passed to him from her wallet when it came time to pay.

 

Following the movie, Yusuke was definitely confused, but glad to see that Futaba enjoyed it. She was grinning from ear to ear, and rambling on, “...And you know, Inari, I think I actually liked it even more on the second watch. There were a bunch of little things and nuances that I missed the first time, especially clues to the twist that I never would have noticed if I didn’t know the twist! I think I only got about 85% of the foreshadowing the first time around, but this time I was able to get a full 100%, and you know I’m a completionist!”

 

“How can you possibly know what percentage of the foreshadowing you noticed?” Yusuke questioned, crossing his arms in thought, “I’m sure that the first time in which you picked up on that 85% you claim, you were under the impression that you had already noticed all of it. After all, how could you notice foreshadowing just enough to know it’s there, but not pick up on it, as would have to be the case to determine what percent you noticed?”

 

“That is a good point,” Futaba nodded, holding one finger up in the air, “But you’re talking to me, remember? I can memorize the titles on a whole shelf of books just by taking one look. Once I see something, it’s in my brain forever. The difference is that on this watch, I realized certain things I’d seen before were foreshadowing, see? And knowing my own abilities, I sincerely doubt something would have gone over my head twice.”

 

“If you put it that way, it does make sense,” Yusuke nodded, then paused where he stood, “So, Futaba, seeing as we didn’t finish these snacks, is there anywhere else you’d like to hang out so that we can eat the rest of them?”

 

"Hm..." Futaba thought for a minute, clasping her hands behind her back, then gave a small shrug as she turned around, "Well, yes. I want to go up on a roof. I don't care what roof, but it's gotta be private. Some nice roof where we can just hang out and eat snacks and talk. Just us."

 

"I think I know a roof we could use for that purpose. We'd have to take the subway there, though. Are you okay with that? When I came here they weren't especially busy, and I can't imagine that changed much in the time the movie took," Yusuke offered, reaching for Futaba's wrist, "I can lead the way."

"Okay," Futaba agreed, letting Yusuke's palm close around her wrist with a light pressure that was just enough to keep her with him while allowing her to pull away if she were to suddenly experience an unexpected panic, "I can handle the subway for a little while, I think. No, I don't think... I have to. I have to be able to at least do that much, because even if I can't take any more steps forward right now, the least I can do is try my best to avoid taking any steps backward... Right?"

"I couldn't agree more," Yusuke chuckled, then began to walk, tugging her toward the station. After a lengthy ride, the pair found themselves in a neighborhood that was even more run-down than Yongen-Jaya. While Futaba's home area had houses split up into stores and apartments, and a few somewhat insufficient single-family homes like her own, this one just had three-story apartment buildings that probably consisted of three room apartments at best, studios at worst.

Futaba looked around, then took a deep breath, taking in the musty scent that the neighborhood somehow carried. Well, that was better than Yongen-Jaya's stench of garbage in the summertime, or the smell of piss in most of Tokyo's main districts at the earliest hours of morning. Musty... That reflected the aging feeling of this district. Despite buildings that seemed typical of more modern construction, it felt like the low-rises had been built at the very beginning of the advent of apartment buildings and never again modified.

Yusuke led her down a nearby street to one of the only low-rises with a fire escape. The ladder stretched to the ground rather than being folded next to the second floor's platform, as if the Landlord didn't care at all if peeping toms used the fire escape to peer inside the apartments, or for thieves to break in. Futaba held back a laugh at that last thought, because she and Yusuke were thieves about to use the fire escape to their advantage.

The big difference was that they didn't need to steal anything physical, and certainly not from any of the building's residents. Instead, they just took the fire escape up to the roof of the apartment building. Once up top, Futaba climbed onto the ridge at the edge of the building to swing her feet out into the open air, careful to hold herself in place by gripping the edge of the ridge behind herself, "Hm, it is nice here."

"It is, isn't it?" Yusuke took a seat next to her, looking out at the horizon, "You'd think that an area this empty wouldn't exist in Tokyo... But here it is. Rent here is cheap too, so I think I might like to live in one of these buildings after graduation. The only problem is that it's a good subway trip to the nearest grocery store, unlike Yongen-Jaya where you do have a small market right nearby."

"That's not so bad, if you buy a bit of fresh food to use right away and some nonperishables like instant noodles to last till the next time you get out to the store..." Futaba conjectured, "Ah, if I didn't already promise Sojiro that I'd stay with him, I'd come with you here. But you know, maybe Akira would come along...?"

"There's no way I could ask him to do that!" Yusuke protested, face flushing red.

Futaba clicked her tongue, "Ah, I think that you could, Inari. Hey. We could make a bet, if you wanna?"

Yusuke blinked in surprise, "I didn't take you for the gambling type, Futaba."

"I play modern video games. You gotta be the gambling type," Futaba responded with a wave of her hand, "It's all connected. Anyway, I don't wanna bet money. I wanna bet personal information. If, by the end of this month, you tell Akira about your feelings for him, then I'll also tell Haru-chan the way I feel about her. That way, we can both just get the heck over ourselves and get it out there."

"Weren't you worried that it's been too soon since Sugimura, for Haru?" Yusuke questioned, staring at Futaba's face.

Futaba shrugged, "Well, yeah, but I realized that I'll always be worried that it's too soon. Even a hundred years from now. I won't ever know if she's ready to hear that somebody likes her, so I'll tell her. If you also tell Akira. Because, trust me, that boy is ready to get asked out."

Yusuke hesitated a moment, but then held a hand out to Futaba, "You have a deal."

She shook on it with a soft smile up at Yusuke.

\-------

QUEEN: Ann?  
QUEEN: Ann, answer me.  
QUEEN: Hey, you okay?  
PANTHER: Hey Makoto.  
QUEEN: You never got back to me again after our date.  
QUEEN: And you weren't at school today. I got worried,  
QUEEN: Did something happen at the photoshoot?  
PANTHER: No  
QUEEN: Okay, so that means yes.  
PANTHER: No it means no  
PANTHER: I am fine

Makoto frowned at her phone, then stood up from where she was seated at her desk. She wandered out into the living room; It was late enough at night that Sae was already home, since Makoto had given Ann time to contact her before expressing her concern.

"Big sis?" Makoto asked, getting Sae to look up from the paperwork she'd taken home for her latest case. She stepped closer, setting her phone down on the table with the messaging app still open, "Do you think I could get your help with something?"

"Of course, Makoto. I'm just working on the Kaneshiro case. Thanks to your opening up to me, we've been able to make more strides... Of course, I haven't told anybody that it was you, or the more gruesome details. And you'll never need to testify or anything, but just having the information you mentioned is really helping," Sae said, closing her laptop to pay attention to her younger sister.

"I'm really glad it can help," Makoto said, sitting down across the table from Sae, "What I need help with isn't personal, though. It's about my friend. I'm a little bit concerned that there's something sketchy going on with her job. She's always been a model, but apparently some of the jobs have been asking her not to bring anyone with her lately..."

"Well," Sae said, reaching for the phone, "That's not too strange on its own, for copyright or privacy reasons. The public sometimes gets barred from shoots for advertisements if the product hasn't actually been announced yet, that sort of thing," She lifted the phone to stare at the screen, "Although. Is this Ann usually this short when texting?"

"Most of her work is for magazines," Makoto said, "And she's usually a lot more talkative than that, so I'm worried. I mean, I'm not overreacting, right?"

Sae gave a partial shrug, "I have to admit, it is suspicious, but it's just conjecture. None of these factors would even hold up as supporting evidence in a courtroom, but... Speaking not as a lawyer, but as your sister, I think you need to push your friend a little bit harder. Nobody can afford to stand by while somebody else is suffering. I know it, and you know it. If you see someone who's in pain you can't do nothing."

Makoto took her phone back, then held it close to her chest, taking deep breaths, "But what can be done? I'm just one person."

"You're not," Sae said, "Not really. You have friends. It's not just Ann that you're friends with, right? You keep mentioning a group. Maybe one person can't do much to rescue anyone, but I know that if you all really care, then you will be able to help her."

"...You're right," Makoto said, then stood back up, "You're very right. Thank you."

With that, she went to get her coat, firing off a text to the group chat that they should meet at Leblanc. As soon as she'd sent it, she pocketed her phone and slipped her shoes on, then set out for the cafe. She arrived quickly, and Akira greeted her, "Makoto. Welcome."

"Hey Akira," She waved back to him, then peered into the cafe. Futaba was sitting in the corner of a booth with Yusuke seated next to her, and Haru was in the back corner looking over a recipe card by the curry pot, "Almost everyone. I know we said that we were going on hiatus, but I think... We need to change somebody else's heart."

"Explain once everyone arrives," Futaba said, holding up her phone, "Ryuji and Ann both sent texts saying they'd be here soon."

"Okay," Makoto said, then approached the booth and sat down across from Futaba and Yusuke, resting her chin in her palm. She addressed the two of them for small talk while waiting, "Hey. Yusuke, you're usually not able to get here quicker than me. What's up?"

"Futaba and I spent the day together. When you sent the text, I was already here, as she invited me to join Leblanc's rapidly increasing number of residents for dinner," Yusuke explained, "We'll be sharing Haru's first attempt at making Leblanc's curry recipe. I'm sure there will be enough for everybody."

"Oh, that's nice," Makoto noted, "I already ate dinner, so I can just try a small portion so that there's enough for others."

"Hey!" Ryuji's voice came from behind Makoto and she turned to see him coming through the door, with Ann right behind him. She looked sheepish; Like she knew that she was the reason Makoto called for them to gather. Well, Ann wasn't stupid, she probably did.

"Ann?" Makoto addressed her friend directly, leaning against the booth to remain facing in her direction, "You know that we're all friends here, and we all love you. So, please. If we need to forgo our hiatus to change somebody's heart, tell us. Please."

Ann brought her arms up around herself, gripping the sides of her arms as she refused to make eye contact with any of her fellow thieves, "I wouldn't go so far as to say we have to do that. I mean, it's not like it's a big deal or anything. It's just a personal problem."

Makoto spoke up again. Sae encouraged her to push, so push she will. Pushing was how she'd gotten in with the Phantom Thieves in the first place, and that was by far the best thing to happen to her in a long time. With her nosy nature, the issue with Kaneshiro would have come to pass regardless of her involvement with the thieves, and it gave her the chance to fight back that she would have never had otherwise, "Ann, do you really think that you're the only one that this is happening to?"

Those words seemed to change something in Ann's composure, and she changed in a heartbeat from scared and nervous to resolute. Of course she did. When she joined the Phantom Thieves, she was so happy to hear that their actions were giving courage to others. So she was being selfish, she decided, to try and hide this just because she was ashamed, "You're right. Okay."

With that resolution in mind, Ann approached the others and slid into the booth next to Makoto. Haru turned away from the curry to give Ann her attention when she spoke again, "Truth is, one of the production companies that I've been working with has been giving strange requests lately. First it was skintight clothing, then swimsuits, and now they're saying that they want to do a nude shoot and just hide my face so nobody knows I'm a minor. They got a little more aggressive about it yesterday, but nothing happened, don't worry."

"That's why they didn't want you bringing third party observers..." Makoto noted, then held a hand out to Ann, "Do you have plans to resolve this situation, or do you want us to help? Because we will, and you know it."

Ann shook her head, "It's not necessary. Actually, I have been planning to solve the problem myself. So, if I seemed a bit upset, it's because I'm scared of what will happen when I go public with the recordings that I've got. Ditching the production company could get me blacklisted, but if I have proof that I had a reason to end my contracts with them, then I won't be out of the business... Hopefully."

Yusuke frowned, "Are... Are you certain that you wouldn't like us to change somebody at this company's heart? It certainly sounds like the type of predicament that you may need it f-"

"No," Ann cut Yusuke off, "We said that we were going on hiatus. We can't go sending any calling cards after making an announcement like that. Besides, we're some of the only people in the world who can use the metaverse, and we have no idea if we might lose that ability, right? We need to be able to solve problems without stealing hearts too."

"Good point," Futaba agreed with Ann, tapping her fingers on the table in front of herself, "The metaverse is a really powerful tool, and it can do things that could never be possible in real life, but it can't just solve everything and we can't rely on it to solve all of our problems. The metaverse gives us the power to fight against those injustices that we couldn't do anything about in reality, but there's things we need to figure out how to do on our own, too."

"That's exactly my point," Ann said.

Yusuke thought about it for a moment, then nodded his own agreement, "I suppose you're right about that. We should use this power for impossible problems. We sorted out Haru's situation without the use of the Metaverse in the end, right?"

"That's true," Haru said, "Although, I still have a few doubts about that. Didn't we theorize that the mental shutdowns were the work of somebody else who was using the Metaverse?"

Akira shrugged, "Maybe."

"But," Futaba spoke up, "That wasn't really what saved you, right Haru? We did arrive there in time that we could have still done something even if the mental shutdown hadn't happened."

"That's a good point," Haru said, "You all were right there. So... The shutdown was unnecessary, but it did keep any of you from ending up in danger fighting him, or anything."

"Life has danger sometimes," Ann said, "We have to learn to cope with it. Hell, if I ever find out who caused that mental shutdown, I'll beat their ass for triggering Futaba without any good reason!"

"You do _not_ need to beat anybody up on my behalf, but thank you, Ann," Futaba noted, pushing her glasses up her nose, "But... Was I really so obvious that even the people I didn't tell could figure it out?"

"Kind of. I mean, you did send that weird text," Ann said, "Sorry for ghosting you, by the way, I just didn't feel up to critical thinking at that moment so I just blew you off. We cool?"

"We're cool," Futaba said.

"Great!" Ann exclaimed, "Now, I'll deal with my modeling thing... And, you know I really hope that after that, we can all put the drama aside for a little while. Handling all of this shit isn't good for us, you know? We deserve a few good days after all of our hard work. We should plan something fun together, all of us. I mean, the next break isn't till winter, but that gives us plenty of time to think something up!"

"Ah," Haru held her hands in close to herself, "Winter Break is after the election, so my father will have had his natural change of heart by then. So, we could go on a vacation somewhere, my treat. Maybe a cabin up in the mountains. That would be a nice place to spend break, right? We could leave on Boxing Day."

"Yo, that'd be great!" Ryuji exclaimed, "I'd wanna spend Christmas with my mom, so Boxing Day would be perfect. But, wouldn't we have to schedule and pay way ahead of time for something like that?"

"Most people do," Haru gave a shrug, "But an Okumura doesn't need to give notice, we have travel agents who are very good and can find anything that's still unbooked, even with specifications. Some listings for lovely places aren't advertised very well, and only the best can track them down."

"If we go, as the Phantom Thieves," Futaba asked, "Do you think we should invite Mishima too?"

"Of course," Ryuji said, "Mishima's just as much a Phantom Thief as any of us, even if he can't get into the Metaverse. We never would have been able to do any of this without him."

"That was my thought," Futaba nodded, "I mean, I never would have even met you guys except for the Phansite. Well, and the bug I planted at Leblanc, but the website really was a big part of it too. You know, do you ever wonder if he feels underappreciated, since we never actually say these things to him...?"

"He did," Akira said, "Not anymore."

Everyone got the feeling that was all the information that Akira was going to give them, so Haru decided to move on, "So, we'll do that, then... I think that will be nice. Ah, maybe by the time we get there, I'll have learned as much about coffee as Akira has, and we can both make it!"

"You'll be dealing with booking the trip," Akira spoke again, "I'll handle coffee."

Haru giggled a bit, reaching out to tap his shoulder, "Come on, what if I _want_ to help? That's okay, right?"

"I think Akira's just trying to keep you from overworking yourself," Yusuke offered, "A vacation should be relaxing, so if possible, just one of us should cover what we're able to do, and nothing extra."

"I think that we can divide the responsiblities pretty evenly," Makoto said with a small nod, "If you'd like, I can draw up a list of all the chores we'd need to have while on vacation, and divide them between the most suited members. Who should talk to Mishima to invite him along?"

"I'll do it," Ryuji volunteered, "I'd been meaning to hang out with him again soon, since it's been a while, so I can bring both things up at the same time."

"You're still getting a chore, this isn't a difficult preparation to make," Makoto said, pointing at him, "Oh, and don't let planning this trip distract you from your studies. You either, Ann. Finals right before break are more important than planning what we're doing during break. I'm always available for study help if you need it. Akira?"

"Yeah, me too," Akira agreed. He used to plan his days out right down to the last minute for the most part, but lately he'd had more free time, and he'd been getting good grades on his exams since arriving at this school. The first ones were satisfactory, and they'd been exceptional since.

"Good," Makoto nodded, then looked between her friends, "In that case, I suppose this meeting is finished. Sorry for calling everyone here on such short notice, I was just... Worried."

"We understand," Yusuke assured her, "And, if memory serves, we have all done the same before. We won't hold it against you."

"Thanks," Makoto smiled, then stood up. The others let her out of the booth and she walked toward the door, but paused and looked back with her hand just inches from pushing it open, "Hey, don't you guys... Get the feeling that this isn't over yet?"

"What do you mean?" Ann asked, twisting in her seat. Makoto turned back around and crossed her arms with a sigh.

"Well... I can't help but feel like, the world's still off track. Like there's still something else that we need to do, as Phantom Thieves, before we can actually move on with our lives. I thought maybe, that would be changing the heart of Ann's manager, but evidently that's not necessary... I just, want it to be over with, you know? We've solved the problems. We've sorted everything out, and really, we became able to live our best selves as soon as we awoke the power of Persona. I love going into the Metaverse, yeah, but I also don't like feeling like there's something we've yet to complete."

"I get it," Ryuji agreed with her, relaxing with his arms behind his head, "But y'know, Makoto, thinking that way won't change anything. The people whose hearts we change, they fall into our laps, right? The one time we tried to pick a target, it turned out to be the wrong idea. All we can really do is wait."

"I know," Makoto admitted, then took a step to push the door open with her back, and turned to walk down the street.


	8. Chapter 8

The Phantom Thieves were planning a trip for just a short while after the election of their country's new prime minister, and they were waiting with bated breath to see the outcome of that. The election was drawing nearer, and though Haru hadn't heard from her father, she'd been watching his policies change at the same rate as the general public, and watching his place in the polls rise along with it. Perhaps he was still too embarrassed to reach out to her, and he had to have kept close enough tabs on her to know that she wasn't having an awful time of it in Leblanc Cafe. Maybe he thought she was happier this way, with him out of her life. She had to admit, she _was_ happier this way, but she could be happy this way and still have contact with her father. She loved him even when he was still doing awful things, after all. She remembered a time he was more compassionate, and that sort of bond between father and daughter couldn't die easily even with such a wedge between them.

Living with Akira was interesting, that much was for sure. Futaba was also around lately, which was nice. Haru was never lonely when she was here, and she never felt threatened either, excluding when particular customers came in. Sojiro didn't have any violent or rude regulars, but the nature of a public space was that not everybody who went there had been a customer there before, or if they had, non-regulars always had the potential to give complaints. Haru couldn't imagine any reason for anybody to complain about Leblanc, but it happened. Haru was lucky enough to avoid having anybody be directly crass to her, though. As a part-time employee for fun, it was usually quite clear she had no authority, and for real, the actual owner who did have authority was _right there_. Sojiro rarely asked anybody else to mind the shop, and when he did, Akira was his first choice, having the longest apprenticeship so far. Futaba was useless for minding shops for the majority of her life, though she was starting to get over that.

Unbeknownst to Haru throughout this all, Futaba was sitting on the chance to ask her out. Futaba had actually gotten up the nerve to follow through on her bet with Yusuke, only for him to do, well, not that. Yusuke chickened out of admitting his feelings to Akira at the end of the month, and Futaba had to suffer the consequences of that. If she asked Haru out without getting Yusuke to ask out Akira, then she lost her only leverage. Not that it was really that important. Futaba had her own plans now, to ask Haru to be her girlfriend on Christmas. Making that her anniversary made it easy to remember, not to mention, it was for some reason romantic to use holidays for such endeavors. Futaba didn't claim to understand, but it made sense, didn't it? It made sense as far as she needed to be concerned.

It wasn't that imperative, though. For Haru's sake and for Futaba's own, any relationship they had would be a slow and steady one, so what difference did it make to wait a little longer to get started on that? Futaba liked just being able to see Haru as often as her crush's presence at Leblanc afforded her, and hanging out with Akira was just a bonus. He still served as a key item for her, and she was able to show Haru her more confident and likeable side when he was also around. That was always nice.

It was on one of these nights that everything fell to pieces.

Futaba, Akira, and Haru were alone after closing, hanging out in one of the booths and massacring their sleep schedules by drinking coffee this late at night, talking about nothing and everything all at once as had become their routine. As had become Futaba and Haru's routine, as Akira sat in silence and occasionally offered a single, but especially insightful comment. That was his way, after all. Futaba never could have remembered the topic at hand that they'd been discussing on that particular night, though, because of the drastic happenstance which interrupted whatever that had been. It was two nights after the election, after Okumura won and everybody celebrated and he called Haru to say that he missed her and they should meet up again soon, just to talk, just to apologize for how he'd alienated her. It was a good night. This night still had the feeling of that one, until it happened.

Until the door, which had supposedly been locked but apparently not, clattered open. The bell that hung above the door was hit with such force that the note it rang out was not a friendly one of somebody new to welcome, but a discordant note of somebody who was likely intruding, but only _likely_. Despite lacking an invite or a reason to be there, Goro Akechi fell onto the welcome mat.

"...Okay," Futaba said, not sure how else to react. Akira reacted more properly, standing up from the booth to run to Akechi, looking him over with immediate concern. Futaba was slower, but she did join him, shocked at what she saw when she got close enough. He seemed worse for wear... No, more than that. He was definitely in some sort of physical distress, that was for sure. Futaba thought that she didn't even have any memories of seeing anybody with this many bruises. That was concerning. Definitely concerning. Futaba didn't know how else to describe it, she couldn't think of anything else, she didn't know how to process something like this. Most people, and especially not serious hermits like herself, had to deal with the experience of having a loose acquaintance fall through their door, bruised and battered.

"Are you okay?" Akira asked him, and Futaba realized that Akechi had literally just collapsed through the door and not spoken a word at all. That was extra weird.

"Hey," Akechi mumbled as if this was actually completely normal when it certainly was not, "You guys, this may sound really strange of me to be saying, but I need... I need you to change my heart."

"You need _us_ to change your heart?" Haru asked from where she stood, still next to the booth, "You mean..."

"I know you're the Phantom Thieves. You three, and Ann Takamaki, Ryuji Sakamoto, Makoto Nijima, and Yusuke Kitagawa. It's you. I've known it's you," Akechi propped himself up on his hands and knees, his breath run ragged and sharp, "This whole time, I've known that it's you. That's why... That's why I need you to help me. Please, change my heart before it gets any worse. Please."

"Why would you need us to change your heart," Futaba asked, "Not anybody else's?"

"Because changing his heart is too big a task. He needs to wither away on his own," Akechi groaned, taking his weight off one arm to use it to clutch at his stomach, "But if my heart doesn't change, then I'll just go back to him, it will keep happening. I need help. I need to be different. I need to stop being like this."

"You're the black masked figure, aren't you?" Akira asked, and a silence fell over the room. That was their enemy. The other user of the metaverse. The one who was most likely responsible for the mental shutdowns, and it was Akechi? Nobody quite knew what to think of that, frozen in place, not saying a word. At least a full minute passed by before any more words were let out into the world, their corner of the world, this bubble without a cause or a purpose. Isolated from everything else. Alone in this world, as if it were the metaverse, though they knew it wasn't.

"You," Haru was the one to break the silence, "You killed Sugimura, didn't you? But how did you know when to do that? How did you..."'

"I was permitted to listen in as well, to offer my assistance and take some of the burden off of Miss Sakura," Akechi explained, still staring down at the welcome mat, his muscles shaking to even hold himself up this much, "And as far as I was concerned, that assistance was to ensure that the situation would never get the opportunity to escalate, no matter what actions you took. I entered the metaverse to shut down Sugimura's mind as soon as things started to become legitimately threatening."

"I didn't need to see that," Futaba said, "And you didn't need to do that. We had it under control. We can't change your heart, anyway. If you can get into the metaverse yourself, then you can't have a palace."

"I can, though," Akechi explained, finally managing to move to sit, leaning against the bar, "I never awoke to the power of Persona, I was merely granted it. I can collect Personas I find, but I actually have none of my own. I haven't done anything to warrant it. I haven't rebelled."

 

 

"But what would his keyword be?" Makoto asked, looking Akechi over, "Akechi, you asked us to do this for you... "

"I'm afraid that I won't be of any use to you in this situation," Akechi said, "The way I interacted with the metaverse, keywords were never something that I needed to use. Then, I don't know where in the real world my palace would have even manifested, as soon as it was able... There are too many possibilities."

"That's useless," Futaba mumbled, "We're helping you even though you've caused us a lot of trouble, the least that you could do is be helpful in executing the favor we're doing for you."

"It's not my fault that I don't know these things. The whole point of changing my heart is because I have a distorted perception, right? If I was able to figure out what that was, then I wouldn't need you. But I know that as lucid as I am now, it's only a matter of time if my heart stays the way that it is now before I do something we'll all regret."

"I don't like the sound of that," Yusuke noted, "And I doubt that you're being melodramatic. I think that whatever you'd do, given your track record, would turn out to have a pleasant outcome for absolutely none of us."

"Yeah, my track record is pretty terrible," Akechi said.

"You're going to stay back here," Futaba explained to him, "And Sojiro is going to keep an eye on you while we deal with your palace, okay? That way, even if you stop being lucid while we're in the middle of it all, you'll be safe."

"That old man's really going to be able to keep me here? I can't use the metaverse anymore, sure, but..." Akechi looked away, "You understand, right, Futaba?"

"In some ways, yeah," Futaba agreed, "I had a palace too, so I know how it can be. And I know _all_ about fighting to be lucid and in control of yourself. That said, Sojiro dealt with me for a long time. And he'll be able to deal with you too. Also, it's not like we won't restrain you."

"Oh, right," Akechi said, "That makes sense. How do you plan to do that?"

"We'll handcuff you to the coffee machine, since it's bolted down," Akira said, "That should be enough to deter you."

"Fair enough," Akechi said, "Even if the twisted distortion breaks back into reality, it isn't like I'll be motivated to try especially hard to escape. I'm not about to forget that all of this is happening right now, or that you're trying to help me... I'd just return to a belief that your help is something I don't and never could need."

"Well, that's pretty rude of your mental illness, now isn't it?" Futaba asked.

"I'm just a mess all around, you know?" Akechi sighed, "There's a very special unfortunate state of being somewhere between pride and desperation that I haven't really been able to escape. The only reason I was able to bring myself to ask for your help is because a lot of that pride turned into desperation instead..."

"Once your heart is changed," Ryuji spoke up now, "You're probably gonna confess to everything. You're really okay with that?"

"I have to be," Akechi said, "I'm sure I'll end up confessing to everything within the metaverse and clear your names of all suspicion, which is the least I could do since you're helping me. And with my heart changed, that will also give me the opportunity to do what I need to do. Right now, with this clarity, I... Can't imagine any reason not to have you steal my heart."

"Okay," Akira said, "We won't let you down."

"We'll go right away. Ryuji? Could you handle getting Akechi restrained?" Makoto offered, then stepped toward the door, "Futaba can call Sojiro, and then we can discuss outside, where Akechi's palace could be. As much as it would be nice if he could tell us the answer, he's right. He's suffering from distorted perceptions, so anything he did tell us would likely be wrong."

Momentarily, after everything was sorted out, the Phantom Thieves stood in front of Cafe Leblanc, all of them standing in a circle.

"Akira," Yusuke said, "Of all of us, you're the one who's had the most direct contact with Akechi. You're probably the one who knows what's up with his palace."

"Not sure," Akira said, shrugging.

"Well, we need to think of where he hangs out most. It's probably not his school or anything, so we can cross that off," Ryuji offered.

"Maybe," Morgana offered, "It could be the place we first met him! The TV station, right? Cause, it seems like it's his public image that would be distorted, and the TV station would have to be the hub of that sort of thing."

"Mona, you're right!" Ann exclaimed, pressing her hands together, "But, what would Akechi see that place as? We need to figure that out too..."

"We can discuss it on the way there," Yusuke said, "As long as we're discreet about it, talking about keywords in public won't raise flags. Not to mention, that area of the city isn't exactly hopping with nightlife, so the trains going there at this hour would be relatively empty."

"You really know your way around the city, Yusuke," Makoto observed.

"I have to be, to keep up with all of you... After all, I don't go to Shujin Academy," Yusuke reminded them, brushing his hair back out of his face, "I won't be left behind just because I live and attend school in an entirely different district."

"We wouldn't leave you behind. If it was really that tough for you to meet up with us all of the time, we'd have worked something out," Makoto said, rolling her eyes, "You're dramatic enough that we'd know if it was actually a problem."  
"Mm, that's true," Yusuke said, and they approached the Yongen-Jaya subway station. He picked out their route, and once they were seated in, indeed, a fairly empty subway car, he spoke up again, "It would help if we knew what Akechi's perception actually was, if we're going to figure out how he views the television station..."

"He kind of admitted it, right?" Morgana offered, "He said he's being driven by _pride_ and _desperation_. That sounds a lot to me like attention-seeking behavior. All we know that he's done is that he was working for somebody to kill particular people in the metaverse as a hired hit. We can believe him on that because that was our theory before he even confirmed it."

"That's fair," Makoto agreed, "Our theory was that he was a hired hit, and it makes sense that Shido was the one facilitating all of that. Though, without us to pin it on, Okumura was too large a target to go after, and that ruined the political plans."

"Whoever Shido is to Akechi," Ryuji muttered, "He couldn't have taken this whole thing very well. That would explain why he's so beat up... Not like I'm really sympathizing with him, but you know, he's still a victim of shitty adults."

"Yes," Akira agreed, "Criminals can also be victims."

"And as the Phantom Thieves," Ann continued for him, "It's our job to stand up for victims who can't do it for themselves. Akechi is a criminal and a victim. His victims were also criminals, who couldn't have really been stopped outside of the metaverse anyway, even if it was for an ulterior motive. So that sort of muddles up the morals, huh?"

"I still think that morally," Morgana said, "It's all pretty reprehensible. But changing the hearts of reprehensible people is what we do! And Futaba. It's like, you guys are trying to think of this like when we changed Futaba's heart. Just cause Akechi asked us to do it, doesn't change that we're entering his palace to make him stop being a criminal."

"...That's right," Makoto realized, holding her chin in her hand, "He is both at once, which makes it hard to think of him either way... But he did say that he'd do something none of us would like, if his heart wasn't changed. It's the same as keeping any of the other criminals we've stopped from following through on a plan. The fact that something bad's happened to him doesn't change that."

"True," Ryuji said, "We were being stupid, debating his morality... When we need to figure out his dang keyword!"

"We do," Ann said, "Maybe, the TV studio... Ah, could it be, his stage?"

"That's too straightforward," Akira said.

"Ohh, you're right," Ann admitted, "A TV station can be a stage to a lot of people. I guess it has to be something that Akechi alone would see it as."

"We'll figure it out when we get there. That way, we'll actually know right away if we guess correctly," Morgana said, "Lady Ann, we'll definitely try stage once we get there!"

"Thanks Morgana," Ann said with a chuckle, "But, I'm probably not right about it."

"We're gonna try anyway! Imagine if it really was stage, but we brushed it off for being too simple?" Morgana insisted.

Upon arriving to the TV station, of course it was closed. That was okay, though. They didn't need to actually get inside, they just had to be close enough for the Nav to register that there was a palace for them to enter. The app seemed to be in active mode, implying that they were correct about the location. Akira spoke to his nav, giving it the information besides the keyword, "Goro Akechi. TV Station."

It lit up that it was awaiting the keyword. They were correct, they just needed to figure out the final word that would let them into the metaverse.

"Stage," Morgana offered, and nothing happened.

"Mask store," Yusuke said. Again, nothing happened, and now he needed to explain himself, "I mean, he does have to pretend to be somebody he's not, when on television."

"Courtroom," Ryuji tried, and again, nothing, "Ugh, I thought that might've worked. The way he performs on TV, he's the only one who knows that he's trying to protect his innocence, right?"

"You're all thinking of parts of it," Makoto said, "But I think that I know what it could be."

"So, say it," Ann said.

"Don't judge me for thinking of it, okay?" Makoto said, sighing as she gave her potential keyword, "It could be, brothel."

The nav lit up in Akira's hand, and he stared at Makoto, looking for an explanation.

"You were right about the idea that this is somewhere that Akechi has to pretend to be someone he's not," Makoto explained, "But you were wrong in thinking it was of his own volition in any way. He sees a place like this as somewhere where he has to sell himself. He can't show his misery for a second, either... Morgana's right, he's a criminal and a victim at the same time. So that makes his keyword, too. If we only thought about what his keyword as a criminal could be, we overlook the fact his keyword could be rooted in his victimhood."

"It's hard to wrap your head around that sort of thing!" Ann exclaimed, putting a hand to her head, "Not like I don't know about moral grays and stuff, but, it's still weird. Everyone whose heart we changed was either totally reprehensible, or totally broken. It's hard to think about it as both at once!"

"It is hard," Makoto said, "But we'll have to keep it in mind while we make our way through his palace. The twists and turns could be linked to either side of his personality."

"We're going in," Akira said then, hitting the button on the nav without hesitation. Soon enough, the Phantom Thieves were all standing in their cognitive forms, standing before Akechi's warped perception of the TV station. It had a gruesomely bright appearance, like that of a strip club in Vegas moreso than anywhere that practiced being discreet in any way. It was offputting.

Makoto stared at it, then took a deep breath before speaking again, "It's even worse than I thought."

"It's so garish," Morgana observed, "But, that makes sense. Akechi's not picking his own clients, for his metaverse endeavors. So it might feel to him like it's being advertised super openly, like this. That it's something that he feels like everybody knows about. Or too many people, at least."

"Aren't there other things that Akechi could think of this place as, along those lines, though? Like, a fast food restaurant?" Ryuji asked, furrowing his brow, "Is there any actual reason that it would be a _brothel_?"

"That's... Probably better if we don't think about it," Futaba said, pushing her glasses up her nose, "Seriously, I've already been able to map out part of the first floor here, and if you think too hard it's just depressing."

"Damn," Ann mumbled, "This is really messed up."

"That's because Akechi's really messed up," Morgana observed, "And we've got to fix his heart, so let's get to it!"

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Track Traitor](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10848495) by [lemonquails](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonquails/pseuds/lemonquails)




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